New Delhi: Dhawan scored his fifth century in just his 28th ODI innings, which equalled the world record that was earlier exclusively held by Sri Lanka’s Upul Tharanga. Shikhar Dhawan added a few inches to his stature on Wednesday as one of India’s hottest batting properties with this fifth career ODI ton – the startling stat, though, is that all of those have come this year and in a world record time.
The Delhi batsman, who has re-invented himself since that century on Test debut against Australia in Mohali, helped India to their sixth consecutive ODI series win with his 119 in just 95 balls, which enabled the hosts bring down West Indies’ 263 to win the deciding third ODI at Kanpur.
Dhawan said in the post-match conference in Kanpur, I am really thankful to God that he has given me such a beautiful year. I am really happy that I have been scoring lots of centuries. It’s a good habit and I want to continue this habit by winning lots of matches for my team.
The Indian opener’s next big assignment could be the most testing since his rebirth as an international cricketer. But Dhawan is confident of doing well there and is quick to remind of his success with the A team in South Africa earlier this year.
“It’s always good to end a home series on a high note. This century is going to give me lot of confidence when I travel to South Africa. Of course, the last South Africa tour [with the A team] is in my mind. It adds to my confidence because I scored a lot of runs on South African pitches,” he said. Dhawan hammered South Africa A with a whopping 248 in a List A game on that tour.
And it’s not just Dhawan. Rohit and Kohli have been in the form of their life. And the trio, who has been viewed by many as India’s new ‘Fab Three’ (if not four), will want to turn this purple patch into a historic series win in South Africa.
Bureau Report
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