Rishi Dhawan got to play his first IPL game on Monday after six years; the Punjab Kings all-rounder had played in the IPL in 2016, and now gets a game, versus defending champions Chennai Super Kings.
However, before he even started bowling, Rishi Dhawan got the attention of everyone as he turned up with a face shield that is rarely seen worn by any cricketer on the field. It was headgear with a transparent material on the front with black strappings that sprawl till the back of his head covering most of his face. While we have often seen some football players wearing such a face shield, it is not common for cricketers.
As fans were wondering what is the thing and for what reason is Rishi Dhawan wearing it, senior journalist Venkata Krishna of The New Indian Express came up with the answer.
So this is a head shield that Rishi Dhawan has been wearing for a while in domestic cricket. He first wore it after he had been hit on his head while bowling in a Ranji Trophy game, and was needed to be hospitalized. The Himachal Pradesh all-rounder has been cautious about the injury since then and has worn this face shield.
Good on Rishi Dhawan to be wearing a face shield. Was hit on the face by a ball on his follow through during the second round of Ranji Trophy. Had to be taken to hospital for scans.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) April 25, 2022
Looking at Rishi Dhawan, some other bowlers may also ponder upon adopting this face shield, especially while bowling in T20 cricket where batsmen are regularly looking to smack the leather out of the ball, hitting it as hard as possible.
With the size of the bats, and the power of the batters, this sort of headgear could become regular apparel for the bowlers, in particular the pacers who have a much longer follow-through than the spinners.
Speaking about Rishi Dhawan’s return to IPL after six years, he started off well, conceding just 3 runs in his first over, however, there were four leg byes to Santner. The seamer made his first breakthrough in his second over, going through the gate of Shivam Dube and castling the left-hander with a hint of seam movement.
