Unique records which made Shikhar Dhawan the 'Gabbar' of Indian Cricket

Shikhar Dhawan might not have played a single international game after December 2022 but he left behind a legacy like no other. As the southpaw finally decided to bring the curtains down on his cricketing career, here are some unique records which made Dhawan the 'Gabbar' of Indian cricket.

Early signs of the things to come

Shikhar Dhawan announced himself at the Under-19 World Cup in style. In the 2004 edition, he smashed 505 runs at an average of over 84. It was a record back then as his tally was the most in a single edition of the U-19 World Cup until South Africa's Dewald Brevis bettered it by one run in 2022.

India's Champions Trophy hero

Dhawan however, failed to emulate his domestic form in international cricket to start with. With his ODI career just 5 games old, he had scored just 69 runs. But things were about to change in the 2013 Champions Trophy.

It was a different Dhawan who turned up for the mini World Cup in England and smashed 363 runs in 5 innings, including 2 hundreds and a half-century. It was his whopping average of over 90 that was crucial in India winning the tournament.

DHAWAN'S DOMINATION
Champions Trophy 2013

Innings 5
Runs 363
100s/50s 2/1
Avg 90.7

He was part of the 2017 edition as well and played 5 more games. Gabbar took his total run tally in the Champions Trophy to 701, the most by any Indian batter in the history of the tournament.

Mr. ICC for a reason

India craved to win an ICC tournament ever since the 2013 Champions Trophy, a lean patch that only ended in 2024. However, Shikhar Dhawan always stood tall despite India not winning an ICC trophy during those 11 agonising years.

Apart from the 2 Champions Trophies, he was the highest run-getter for India in the 2015 ODI World Cup and also smashed a hundred against the Aussies in the next edition in 2019, before being ruled out of the event due to a fractured thumb.

In a total of 20 ICC ODI matches, Dhawan scored 1238 runs at an average of over 65. That's the most among batters to have scored at least 1000 runs in ICC ODI tournaments.

BEST AVERAGES IN ICC ODI EVENTS
Minimum 1000 Runs

Runs Avg
S Dhawan 1238 65.15
V Kohli 2324 64.55
S Anwar 1204 63.36
V Richards 1013 63.31

Not to forget that he was also India's highest run-getter at the 2014 and 2018 Aisa Cups. Talk about standing up at the big occasions.

A Test debut to remember

After dominating bowlers in limited-overs cricket, Dhawan made his Test debut in 2013 and took red-ball cricket by storm in his very first match. He smashed 187 off just 174 balls against Australia in Mohali, which is still the highest score by an Indian on Test debut. He reached his hundred off only 85 balls and it's the fastest by any batter in the world in his 1st match in whites.

A Perfect Partner

Shikhar Dhawan will also be remembered for his memorable partnerships with Rohit Sharma. The duo ate bowlers for breakfast till the time they opened the innings in ODIs for India.

They stitched together 18 century-run stands in one-day cricket, which is the best after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who had 21.

MOST CENTURY OPENING STANDS
For India in ODIs
Inn Tons
Sachin-Ganguly 136 21
Dhawan-Rohit 115 18
Sehwag-Sachin 93 12

Rohit and Dhawan were the undisputed kings of global ODI tournaments during their days. A well-oiled pair, capable of decimating any bowling attack on their day. Interestingly, Rohit scored 13 of his 31 ODI hundreds in SENA nations, the most by an Indian batter. Dhawan wasn't far behind and smashed 8 of his 17 ODI tons in SENA countries.

During his 14-year-long international career, Dhawan's name became synonymous with opening. And whenever the world talks about the best openers to have graced the game, Gabbar's name will be right up there.