As I followed the match of India A’s tour to South Africa on Monday, things simply kept going from real to surreal. Heck, 248 in a 50-over match is stupendous. Back in the days, 248 was a total which any team would have been content with, but now a single individual is scoring those many runs. As man of the moment Shikhar Dhawan admitted later, he was eyeing a triple century! Alas, I could not watch it on TV and had to be content with Espncricinfo’s match updates.

I was not particularly sure about his inclusion in the squad for the test series against Australia. I desperately wanted Virender Sehwag to do well and I looked at Dhawan’s inclusions as one of those where India did not have an option. And how spectacularly wrong I was to be! What followed was a bludgeoning of an Australian attack rarely ever displayed by a debutant, in the process registering a new world record of the fastest hundred on debut!

To be honest, never did I think that Shikhar will get a chance to play in the Indian team for long. Sure, he was the star player in the U-19 World Cup (WC) in 2004, and that was the time when I first heard of him. But what I saw wasn’t particularly impressive. His technique did not look too correct, and his leg-side play was not impressive. His ODI and t-20 debut did nothing to indicate that he is here to stay either. He did get a 50 in one of the ODI matches when he toured with the Indian team to West Indies in 2011, but single digit scores in the next games meant that he was to not get a chance until Sehwag and Gambhir slipped, which they did.

Another problem with Shikhar was the lack of any stand out performances in IPL. Like it or not, IPL has become the perfect stage to take a first look at our cricketers. R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Vinay Kumar have all come to the fore because of this domestic league. I was more enamoured by the likes of Kohlis, Sharmas, Rainas who looked like every part of the arsenal needed by India. For me, Dhawan lacked qualities which maketh a fan. No natural talent like Sachin, no big match temperament like Dhoni, no flair like Kohli and no solidity like Dravid.

But his test match debut, and an awesome run of form at the Champion’s trophy, where he was named man of the series and helped India lift another world title two years after the WC, he has been one of the reasons of joy for me, and so many other fans that I know. And he only gets better!

So Shikhar, hat’s off for an unparalleled run of form. From nowhere, you are someone who fans like me hope from. And hopefully, you will not be weighed down by our expectations and continue to thrill us. Bring the ODI 300 on!