Shikhar Dhawan

A bubbly personality, Dhawan's batsmanship matches his character. A natural aggressor, blessed with a stunning array of shots all around the wicket, he gives India a real spark at the top of the order

The Cricketer | 04/05/2019 at 06:49

Born: December 5, 1985

Role: Left-hand bat

Characterised by flamboyance on and off the cricket field, Shikhar Dhawan is just another fluid strokemaker from the Delhi conveyer belt.

Never afraid to throw his hands at the ball in his own rather unique stiff-handed style, initially those attractive strokes were not being transferred into meaningful scores, and a tepid average in the 40s looked to leave him consigned to domestic cricket while fellow Delhi openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag struck up a formidable partnership at the top of the order for India.

But the tide (and age) turned on Gambhir and Sehwag and after an indifferent IPL and a handful of ODIs, Dhawan was eventually given the opportunity to make a name for himself, and how he did that.

Blazing his way to the fastest Test century by a debutant in March 2013, Dhawan announced himself in the longer format with 187 against Australia in Mohali, yet his struggles against the moving ball and consequent omission from the Test side have meant significant scores against the higher-ranked sides have yet to follow.

However, Dhawan has 16 ODI centuries to his name since his debut in October 2010, including a stunning 137 against South Africa at the MCG in the 2015 World Cup, and the latest of which in March came at the same venue against the same opposition as his first Test hundred.

Dhawan was also part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad side that won the 2016 IPL and the India team the 2013 Champions Trophy in England, and now he will be hopeful of maintaining his excellent, long-standing partnership with Rohit Sharma in an attempt to taste glory once again on these shores.

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