Shikhar Dhawan is a left-handed opening batsman for India in international cricket. In domestic cricket, he represents Delhi, and in the IPL, he represents Sunrisers Hyderabad (Indian Premier League). In the IPL, he previously played for the Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians. He rose to fame after a single-tournament record of 505 runs in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup, but he had to wait for his national debut due to the Indian team’s overabundance of good openers such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Before he won his national cap at the age of 27, he observed the blossoming careers of his opening pair from the Challenger Trophy 2005, MS Dhoni and younger Delhi batsman Virat Kohli. However, he made full use of his domestic cricket experience to develop himself as a run-machine and has firmly founded himself as India’s opening batsman. He was recently appointed the Indian T20I team’s vice-captain for the Tri-Series in Sri Lanka.
Childhood and Puberty
Shikhar Dhawan was born on December 5, 1985, in Delhi, India, to Sunaina and Mahendra Pal Dhawan, Punjabi Khatris. He has a younger sister named Shreshta, who married in November of 2017.
His uncle convinced him to join the prestigious Sonnet Club at the age of 12 to practise cricket under famous coach Tarak Sinha. He quickly amazed his coach by scoring a century for the U-15 team in a school tournament, showing that he was not afraid to touch shoulders with the big boys.
In Paschim Vihar, Delhi, he attended St. Marks Senior Secondary High School. Since graduating 12th grade, he had to drop out of school to concentrate on his cricket career.
Career In Domestic
Shikhar Dhawan made his debut for Delhi Under-16s in the 1999-2000 Vijay Merchant Trophy, guiding his side to the finals as the leading run-scorer the following season. He was then chosen to play for the North Zone Under-16s side, and at the age of 15, he was picked for the Delhi Under-19 squad.
He managed to do well in every game, but his best success came in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, where he scored 505 runs at an average of 84.16 with three centuries and a fifty. Despite his excellent results, his national debut was postponed because the Indian team already had a strong opening pair in the form of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.
In November 2004, he made his first-class debut for Delhi against Andhra Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, followed by a List A debut against Jammu & Kashmir in the Ranji One-day Trophy in January 2005. Facing some ups and downs, he displayed consistency by reaching the top scorers list in a variety of tournaments and helping Delhi secure the Ranji Trophy in 2007–08.
After struggling to build on his ODI debut opportunity in late 2010, he failed to perform in the Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Deodhar Trophy. During the 2012-13 season, however, he was in excellent form in the Challenger Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy, scoring a century as the Delhi captain in a List-A match against a visiting England side.
Career In International
Shikhar Dhawan was called up to the national senior team for the first time in October 2010 for a three-match One-Day International series against Australia, but he was dismissed for a second-ball duck in his first match. He was then picked to play in limited-over matches during India’s tour of the West Indies in June 2011, during which he made his T20I debut, but he struggled to impress once again, apart from a half-century.
Following his excellent domestic form, he was called up to the Indian Test squad in February 2013 for a four-match series against Australia, and earned his Test cap on March 14, 2013, from Sachin Tendulkar. On his debut, he scored 187 runs with Murali Vijay in a 283-run opening partnership, shattering Gundappa Viswanath’s record for the fastest century on debut, but he also sustained an injury.
Following his rehabilitation, he played well in the IPL and was picked for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy ODI team, where he formed a good opening pair with Rohit Sharma. In the first two matches of the tournament, he scored his first and second ODI hundreds, and he was given the Golden Bat for his 363 runs.
Following a poor performance in the tri-series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, he scored high against Zimbabwe, Australia, and the West Indies. He formed two major partnerships against Australia, both of which were successful in chasing down 350-plus totals.
He suffered during India’s December 2013 and January 2014 tours of South Africa and New Zealand, but recovered somewhat in the 2014 Asia Cup, which India exited early. However, he struggled in the Test series against England, and after a strong display in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, he lost out on the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Test series in Australia.
He got off to a strong start in the 2015 World Cup, scoring two hundreds, including a career-high 137, which helped him regain his place in the Test squad. He joined the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid by scoring centuries in back-to-back away matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
He made a good return for the 2017 Champions Trophy, riding on his domestic results, and won the Golden Bat for scoring the most runs for the second time. In the September 2017 Test series against Sri Lanka, he scored two centuries.
Career In IPL
Shikhar Dhawan’s early results in the tournament were poor, and he was forced to switch teams from Delhi Daredevils to Mumbai Indians to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013. He has led the team to the playoffs twice since then, in 2016 and 2017, capturing the championship in 2016.
Achievements & Awards
The fastest Test century by a debutant is Shikhar Dhawan’s 187 against Australia in 2013. He was named the ‘CEAT International Player of the Year’ that season and was named to the ‘ICC World ODI XI.’
He is the first player in ICC Champions Trophy history to win two Golden Bats in a row.
He is the fifth-fastest batsman in ODI history to cross 4000 runs.