Shikhar Dhawan is India’s leading ODI run-scorer in 2022 with 489 runs
Watching the spirit of the Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan in India vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI, former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja sensed a similarity between him and the veteran Sachin Tendulkar. In Shikhar Dhawan and Shubhman Gill, India found a potent opening pair as the combination tested success in almost all the matches they’ve opened together.
The left-hand, right-hand partnership of Dhawan and Gill stitched 192 runs in the last ODI when India chasing a target of 190 runs to win over Zimbabwe. With more than 19 overs to spare, Dhawan and Gill scored 81 and 82 runs respectively in the match. The same spirit was shown in the West Indies series also.
Shikhar Dhawan was appointed as India’s stand-in captain for the second side in the last year’s Sri Lanka tour. Since then, Dhawan is leading the Men in Blue whenever they need to send the second team for a series. Dhawan’s recent assignment was in West Indies for a three-match ODI series. Also, he was supposed to lead the team India in the ongoing Zimbabwe series. It was when K. L. Rahul returned, Dhawan was named his deputy. Yet he batted brilliantly with Gill which helped India win the match.
During the post-match interaction, Dhawan shared his experience batting with young Shubman Gill, “Absolutely, I am enjoying batting with a youngster and feel like one as well”.
Shikhar Dhawan was India’s leading ODI run-scorer in 2022 with 388 runs before the 1st ODI. Now he extended his runs to 489 with his 38th ODI fifty.
While watching his game, Ajay Jadeja explained how Dhawan reinvented himself in the ODI format batting alongside Gill and compared him with the great Sachin Tendulkar who used to do the same when M. S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh came to the limelight.
“There will always be a period where you are re-energised and you’ve got to change your game because the next generation is always quicker, faster, smarter. And they always push you. A good example is going back to Sachin Tendulkar. Think of him when Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and all these guys came in. He did exactly the same thing in his career. He had to reinvent himself, changed the pace at which he was playing the game to keep up with the younger lot,” Jadeja said at the post-match show.
“You’ve got to catch up. Sometimes as a senior player you tend to take it easy, you’ve been around for so long… You stagnate at a certain place. But when that next generation comes, it starts pushing you. The first time was when Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly came in and the next change was when Yuvraj, Sehwag, and Dhoni came in. And you can see the same with Shikhar.”, he added.
Shikhar Dhawan also completed 6574 runs in ODI cricket and has a bright chance to hit the fastest 7000 runs for India in ODIs. The 36-year-old left-hander has only a few years of cricket left for him, but the experienced batter is having his best times right now. He might not be a part of India’s T20I squad and Test squad any longer, but his consistency in the ODI format has proven that he is an indispensable part of team India.
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