Rishi Dhawan’s retirement was not supposed to send ripples across the nation, especially after he chose to move away on the day after India conceded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade. The criticisms around the Test side and the question around its future were far too many and heavy for the pundits or fans to dwell on other subjects.

It was in Australia that Dhawan had played his first international matches, in 2015-16, when India were on the lookout for seam-bowling all-rounders. Twelve runs, a solitary wicket (of George Bailey), and 6.40 runs an over did not do much to boost his credentials.

The batting line-up of the Indian side in these ODIs made interesting reading. After the top five (which included MS Dhoni), they had Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Ravindra Jadeja, and Dhawan in that order. Mann was, in essence, a batter who bowled some off-spin; like Dhawan, his only ODIs were on that tour.

Dhawan’s batting credentials were thus never tested at the highest level. And on the T20I leg of the tour, they found Hardik Pandya, who would go from strength to strength over the next year and a half.

Dhawan’s only other international outing was an unremarkable T20I later that year in Harare. He returned to play domestic cricket amidst the occasional IPL stint. It is too familiar a pattern by now.

He kept making it to the news cycles. Sometimes for bowling in a protective face-shield. Then, when his brother Raghav played for Uganda, marking a rare instance of siblings playing international cricket for different nations.

And in 2022, when he came close to a national recall on the verge of a historic performance.

A slice of history and an opportunity

Himachal Pradesh does not have a cricketing history to match some of the powerhouses of Indian cricket. They did not play Ranji Trophy until 1985-86. When the first round of the competition used to be played in zonal format, Himachal were consistently among the weaker sides in North Zone. When they split the group into divisions, Himachal were, until 2011-12, regulars in the Plate League.

On the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association website, the “defining moments” section opens with not a match or a cricketer but the inauguration of the picturesque venue in Dharamshala. Sushma Verma had played for India Women, but no one for the men’s team.

It is from this background that Dhawan rose. Until the mid-2010s surge, seamers were a rarity in India. Seam-bowling all-rounders, the equivalent of gold dust (they still are). He grabbed the headlines with his 340 against Railways Under-19s in 2006-07. A year later, he took four consecutive five-wicket hauls (including a spell of 3-3-0-5), again at Under-19 level. By then, he had already been playing for the state Under-22s. Oh, he was only 17 at this point.

There was the occasional highlight in the long career, where he averaged 42 with the bat and 27 with the ball across 98 first-class matches. He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy, for example. There were call-ups to the India A side. In List A cricket, the numbers read 38 and 30. In T20, he went for 7.60 an over and struck at 121.

However, there was a moment where he brought glory Himachal Pradesh had never known before or after. Under him in 2021-22, they won the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, their only silverware till date. His 458 runs at 76.33 (strike rate 127) and 17 wickets at 23.35 were the second-most of the edition. What made the turnaround more spectacular was their one win from five games in the previous edition.

At the core of their historic triumph were Dhawan’s performance and pre-tournament strategies with new coach Anuj Dass. It helped that Dhawan had himself undertaken BCCI’s Level 2 coaching course.

Dhawan’s performance coincided with one of several injuries to Hardik Pandya, prompting Sunil Gavaskar to push for his cause. “The form in which Rishi Dhawan is in this season, I definitely feel that he should be given an opportunity, a responsibility and he should be told that we are depending on you and the fact that India need all-rounders, someone who can bat at No.6 or 7 and open or be the first-change bowler, if he is said this then even he would make the most of the opportunity then.”

The break did not come immediately, but in September 2022, Dhawan replaced the injured Navdeep Saini in the India A squad for the series against New Zealand A. He was dismissed once for his 56 runs and had figures of 3-55 across three fifty-over games; but with Pandya back in the fold – that too as national vice-captain (at times chipping in for Rohit Sharma) – that was as far as he went.

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