The prelude to his unconquered 42 off 15 balls, came in Bengaluru against West Indies, a six-ball 24 that was all flashes and slashes. But the challenges in Christchurch were different. When he strode in, India required 59 off 33 balls. It was not an unforgivably steep ascent, but this was only the fifth time he was batting in a T20I, facing a band of bowlers who had slit open a window of hope. The surface still had bounce and pace to intimidate a first-timer from the subcontinent. Among the remaining batsmen, only Nitish Kumar Reddy was competent. A shot of indiscretion or a moment of fear risks a potential shove to the back-burner. His stock is abundant in the country. Every domestic team or IPL franchise has a spinner who can bat. He had to grab the opportunity. He did.

The 26-year-old had suffered setbacks in the past. Opportunities came sparse for the cricketer from Faridkot in Punjab, son of an employee at a chemist shop. He once brooded over quitting the game and relocating to Canada, where his sister studied. Friends and relatives taunted him for wasting his life on a cricket field. But his father told him to give cricket one more season before forsaking it. He listened.

The year, 2022, changed his life and trajectory. Punjab picked Dhir for the Ranji Trophy, and a year later he was on Mumbai Indians’ payroll. Tragedies continued to strike, he lost his grandfather, a pillar of support first. And later lost childhood coach Gagan Sidhu, who was only 36.

But this was a different battle, physical and mental, rather than emotional. His mindset was clear: Waste no time and club the ball around. Just the second ball, he tried, and failed, to time a wide one from medium pacer Nathan Smith. Shreyas Iyer gestured to him to relax, implying that he would shoulder the heavy-lifting duties. Dhir nodded but didn’t listen.

Enter Mitchell Santner, the Kiwi captain and the game’s most potent bowler. On the first he clumped him over extra cover for a brace. The signs were evident. That he would swing for the fence. The next ball was a wide. The ball after, he bludgeoned him over the cow cordon, a slog-sweep of savage beauty. Santner had flung this one quicker, but the length was ideal for him to crouch and swipe it. He has fast hands and a scathing bat-swing, from which he generates considerable power. He waited for Santner to err on the shorter side next ball, which he did and Dhir briskly cut him for a four.

The counsel from Iyer stopped. He knew Dhir had grasped the situation’s demands. The pressure on Iyer dropped, as boundaries kept flying off Dhir’s blade. Nathan Smith tried to bounce him out, but he swatted him for a four. He didn’t middle every single ball, edges flew towards the fence. But he remained unflustered, and navigated India home after Iyer’s departure. As much as the strokes, his temperament impressed Iyer. “I personally feel the calm and composed nature he showed tonight, it was magnificent,” he gushed.

Strangely, he didn’t bowl. But in the West Indies series, he had demonstrated his efficacy, bagging five wickets, the second most by an Indian bowler. His partnership-breaking gifts were noticeable, as was his knack of getting a wicket the ball after being hit for a six. He considers himself as a batsman who could bowl, but his second skill could be invaluable for the country. There could be better spinners who can bat, like Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, but there are not many natural hitters who could bowl spin. He can be brutal against both spinners and pacers, as he has displayed in the IPL.

The bowling is still finding its missing pieces. But a permanent space could open up if Axar’s toils continue and Washington remains injury-prone. He has a better range of hitting the seamers than Shivam Dube as well. He is overeager to bowl, and Iyer praises his enthusiasm to bowl at difficult junctures.

But the true calling could be a finisher’s—the deadeye sniper batting down the order to wrap up the game or applying the final flourish, without excessive outpouring of emotions.