Happy Birthday Shikhar Dhawan: A look at his top moments
One of India's most successful white-ball openers, Shikhar Dhawan turned 34 on Thursday. Having made his debut against Australia in 2010, the prolific opener has been one of the pillars of Team India, in this decade. With more than 9,000 international runs, he has scripted several unique records. As he celebrates his birthday today, we take a look at some of his top moments.
While Dhawan might not be a regular for Team India in Tests these days, he etched his name in the records books when he made his debut. In the debut match against Australia in Mohali, in 2013, Dhawan played a flamboyant knock of 187 off 174 deliveries. With this, he hit the fastest century on Test debut in the history, off just 85 deliveries.
India were one of the favorites to win the 2015 World Cup, being the defending champions. However, they perished against hosts Australia in the semi-final. Interestingly, Dhawan continued his love-affair with the ICC tournaments as he scored the most number of runs for India. In eight innings, Dhawan managed to score 412 runs at an average of 51.50. Overall, he was the fifth-highest run-getter.
Dhawan scripted another unique feat in Tests last year when Afghanistan were playing their maiden Test against India. Dhawan smashed a century in a dominating fashion, as he became the first Indian batsman to score a ton before lunch on Day 1 of a Test match. At lunch, he was unbeaten on 104 off 91 deliveries, as 94 runs came via boundaries.
While we might know Dhawan as a charismatic batsman, early on in his career, he wanted to become much more than a batsman. Dhawan's coach Tarak Sinha had once said, "Not many people know that he was a wicket-keeper when he first came under my guidance. I realized he was special when he was a 12-year-old." Could he have been MS Dhoni's replacement?
Dhawan has a couple of nicknames. However, the most popular one is Gabbar. As for the fans wondering, it is because while fielding, he used to utter the dialogues of Bollywood's most famous villain, Gabbar, portrayed by Amjad Khan in the movie, Sholay. And, he used to do so in order to lift the spirit of the team. We wish Gabbar a happy birthday!
