Birthday Special: Shikhar Dhawan – India’s reliable big-match player
Shikhar Dhawan rose to fame 16 years ago, after an unprecedented run in the 2004 U-19 World Cup, where he scored 505 runs, and with 3 centuries under his belt, he was adjudged the ‘Player of the Tournament’. Despite that, it took Dhawan nine years to earn his Test call-up for the nation, and that too for no fault of his. If there was any fault, it was that Dhawan’s early days coincided with two fellow Delhites, who formed arguably India’s finest opening duo: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.
Happy Birthday @SDhawan25 #HBDDhawan pic.twitter.com/pemvbF6rSP
— Manoj Maddy (@manoj__maddy) December 4, 2020
A naturally aggressive opener, Dhawan, born on 5th December 1985, marked himself as one of the mainstays in India’s domestic team of Delhi. And his rigorous grind and loads of notable domestic performances led him to debut for India against Australia in 2010. However, with a duck, he failed to capitalize on the opportunity and rather turned into a floating replacement option for the national team in the following years. It was not until the axing of Virender Sehwag against Australia that Dhawan was handed the India Test cap.
The turning point
On his debut, in Mohali in March 2013, against Australia, Dhawan hungrily grabbed his chance by smashing 187 off 174 balls, en route to which he registered the fastest-ever hundred on debut (off just 85 balls). Dhawan followed it up with a century and 98 in New Zealand in February 2014 although he struggled on India’s tours to England and Australia later that year.
His fluctuating forms in Tests aside, he had a purple patch in 2013 and continued his form in ODIs as he ended up as the emerging player of the tournament in the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2013, after piling up 363 runs in just five games, including two tons. He was in a prolific run of form during the 2015 World Cup, making 412 runs at 51.50, including two crucial under-pressure knocks – 137 against South Africa, and a crucial 73 versus Pakistan. While he kept piling runs in the limited-overs cricket for India, he did not get any significant scores in the 2014-15 season in the longest format.
Due to a lack of performances and some technical shortfalls, he lost his spot to KL Rahul in the whites, however, in limited-overs cricket, he continued to prosper. India’s man for the ICC tournaments, Dhawan made a spectacular start to the 2019 World Cup as he smacked a scintillating century against Australia, although his run was shortened due to an injury, and he failed to find his spot in the team again.
After staying away from the game due to the COVID-enforced break, Dhawan lighted up the IPL 2020, where he ended as the second-leading run-scorer. On 20 October 2020, Dhawan became the first batsman in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to score back-to-back hundreds. He then went on to score 587 runs in IPL 2021, finishing fourth in the orange cap list. The Delhi batsman has a lot more to offer and we wish him a happy 36th birthday.
