Cricket News

Records Galore for Shikhar Dhawan on the back of a series win vs West Indies

Shikhar Dhawan captained the Men in Blue to a dominating series whitewash against the West Indies in the three-match ODI series. In a rain-affected final ODI match, India scored 225 for 3 in 36 overs, thanks to a whirlwind knock by Shubman Gill and another half-century from Shikhar Dhawan (58 off 74 balls).

The Indian captain was in great form during the whole series and led from the front with the bat. In the process, he also broke into an elite list of players. Virat Kohli is on top of that list and Shikhar Dhawan will look to overtake him soon.

With a half-century against the home side in the third ODI of the series, Shikhar Dhawan equaled the record of  India captain MS Dhoni for the most fifty-plus scores – 29 – outside Asia. Virat Kohli is leading the list with 49 fifty-plus scores, while the second man on the list is Indian cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 50+ scores 48 times in his career.

Also, Shikhar Dhawan has now become the first Indian captain to white-wash West Indies in West Indies in an ODI series. Apart from Gill and Dhawan, the Indian bowlers also played a part in India’s massive win in the last match of the series. The revised DLS target of 257 from 35 overs was a difficult one and Mohammed Siraj’s 2/14 in 3 overs  with the new ball set the tone. West Indies could only end up with 137 in 26 overs.

The bowlers were all over the West Indies batters like a rash. Spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal ( 4/17 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (1/38 in 6 overs), and seamer Shardul Thakur (2/17 in 5 overs) performed their role admirably on a slow surface. Brandon King ( 42 off 37 ) and Nicholas Pooran ( 42 off 32 balls) made substantial contributions but couldn’t convert them into big scores. The counter-attacking resistance was never going to be good enough as the home side lost the match in the end.