Top 5 greatest innings by Shikhar Dhawan in cricket history

One of India’s flamboyant openers, Shikhar Dhawan, announced his retirement from international cricket on August 24, 2024. The southpaw provided fearless hitting another synonym as India did not have to look for another opener for almost a decade. He made his India debut with an ODI against Australia in October 2010 at the age of 25. His T20I debut came after eight months and it took almost three years for him to wear the Indian whites in 2013. The same year, he was named Player of the Series in the Champions Trophy 2013.

Dhawan had a quirky style of tackling the short ball unlike, other renowned India openers, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma. His jump shot over the covers had shutterbugs craving more. The former India opener is termed as the King of ICC tournaments in ODIs. He has the fifth-best average for any Indian batter in ODIs with an average of 44.11, overtaking the legend Sourav Ganguly (40.95). Speaking of his performance in ICC ODI events, in 20 innings, he averages 65.15, higher than Virat Kohli (64.55).

Here Top five greatest knocks by Shikhar Dhawan:

1. 137 vs South Africa, MCG, World Cup 2015

Before entering the 13^th match of World Cup 2015, India had the baggage of succumbing to Proteas thrice in as many meetings in the 50-over World Cups. South Africa and India held the number one and two ODI rankings respectively. India batted first and lost Rohit Sharma due to an unfortunate runout.

Dhawan paired with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane stitching partnerships of 127 and 125 respectively. He smashed 16 boundaries and two maximums ending his knock on 137 off 146 balls. He contributed with two catches on the field as India broke the Proteas jinx by 130 runs on the back of Dhawan’s Player of the Match performance.

Also read: Shikhar Dhawan reflects on prospect of biopic on his life, reveals his pick of actors for role