The Indian opener reached his 17th ODI century in just 95 balls in the side's second group stage game against Australia.
After Rohit Sharma scored the century in India’s World Cup 2019 opener against South Africa, it was time for Shikhar Dhawan to put on a show. Dhawan scored his 17th ODI century in the side’s second group stage game against Australia at World Cup 2019.
Dhawan had a poor start to the tournament against South Africa, but made an impressive return to form in India’s second game.
The Indian opener became the only third Indian player to hit three centuries in World Cup tournaments - the first two being Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Dhawan also overtook Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma to score the most number of ODI centuries in England (4).
Both the openers, Rohit and Dhawan, entered with the mindset to take on the Aussie part-timers. Against the fiery Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, the openers played with caution, but accelerated their scores as the innings proceeded.
Dhawan picked on bowlers like Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis, reaching his century in 95 balls. Rohit, who also played the similar way, however, couldn't reach his second consecutive three-figure score. The Indian vice-captain was caught unguarded due to awkward bounce on 57.
The batsman recorded his 6th hundred in ICC tournaments. In addition, this is Shikhar Dhawan’s 10th fifty-plus score in an ICC event since the 2013 Champions Trophy – his first ICC event.
The opening pair of Dhawan and Rohit also became the most successful opening pair against Australia in ODI cricket during the 127-run stand for the first wicket. The duo overtook West Indies’ Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes’ tally of 1152 runs. They also took seven fewer innings (22) to break the record.
