Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan would be celebrating his 33rd birthday today. According to ICC rankings, the left-handed batsman is currently at number 8 in ODI format and at number 11 in T20I format. He has shown his good form currently in both the T20I matches against Australia at their home, scoring 76 (42) and 41 (22) in 1st and 3rd T20I respectively as India could not get to bat in the second match due to bad weather conditions. Though the series is drawn with 1-1, Shikhar managed to get the player of the series award.
Big matches bring the best out of some players and Shikhar Dhawan is one of the players who lies under this list of big match players.
Here we take a look at five of Dhawan’s best knocks in ICC tournaments:
1. 137 (146) vs South Africa (ICC World Cup, February 2015)
This match was filled with lots of surprises and magnificent batting, bowling and fielding display. Team india batting first, lost their first with and Dhawan’s opening partner Rohit Sharma in the first over of the match to a brilliant run-out by AB de Villiers. Dhawan needed to step up for India yet again and that’s exactly what he did by achieving his career-best ODI score of 137. India won the match by a difference of 130-runs and Shikhar Dhawan was awarded Man of the Match award for his magnificent innings.
2. 100 (85) vs Ireland (ICC World Cup, March 2015)
The 34th match of ICC World Cup 2015 was played between Indian and Irish cricket teams. Porterfield (67) and Niall O’Brien (75) led Ireland to set 260 runs for victory. Dhawan once again stepped up in the chase by scoring 100 runs in just 85 deliveries. He was accompanied by his opening partner Rohit Sharma as the duo put on a 174-run opening stand that effectively put Ireland out of the game. Dhawan scored his first half-century after facing 54 balls and after crossing this landmark, Dhawan scored his second half-century in just 31 deliveries.
3. 73 (76) vs Pakistan (ICC World Cup, February 2015)
It was the biggest match of the World Cup’s group stage as India were facing arch-rivals Pakistan. India had never lost to Pakistan at World Cup stages and Dhawan and company wanted to keep it that way. Batting first, India got off to a good start by Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan scoring a partnership of 129 runs after an early wicket of Rohit Sharma. Dhawan scored a decisive half-century which laid down the foundations for India to post a promising target of 300 runs.
4. 114 (94) vs South Africa (ICC Champions Trophy, June 2013)
It was the inaugural match of ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and India were facing tournament favourites, South Africa. Dhawan showed a poor form in warm-up games, scored 114 runs off just 94 balls and scored an opening partnership of 127 runs with Rohit Sharma. JP Duminy took his wicket but due to his wonderful knock, India posted a total of 331 runs before South Africa. India won the match by 26 runs as Shikhar Dhawan walked away with Man of the Match award.
5. 102* (107) vs West Indies (ICC Champions Trophy, June 2013)
The target of 234 – thanks to Jadeja and despite Darren Sammy’s 56 off 35 towards the end, proved no inconvenience for India – whose openers were almost in a contest to outdo each other’s attractive shots. Rohit Sharma might have fallen for 52 off 56, but Shikhar Dhawan went on to score his century by hitting 10 Fours and 1 six in his innings. After Rohit departed with India on 101, Dhawan took on the anchor to ensure the team India cruised home by eight wickets. He remained unbeaten on 102 with Dinesh Kartik.
Dhawan in his last five T20I matches had scored 43, 92, 76 and 41 with one match not played due to rain. this clearly shows his form and determination for the game.
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