"100 centuries in 5 years": Shikhar Dhawan gets emotional about golden era with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
Published - 24 Aug 2024, 02:20 PM | Updated - 25 Aug 2024, 11:18 AM
Veteran India opener Shikhar Dhawan called time on his international and domestic career on Saturday (August 24). Dhawan finished as one of India's most successful opening batters, especially in the ODI format.
The left-hander scored 6793 runs in 167 ODIs at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 91.35. Overall, he scored 24 hundreds in his international career and played a big role in India's title win in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, where he emerged as the highest run-scorer of the tournament.
With Dhawan's retirement, an era also comes to an end in Indian cricket which saw three of their best ODI batters playing together at the top. The three batters are Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While Rohit and Kohli are still active in Test and ODI cricket, Dhawan's retirement brought an end to this era.
At their prime, these three batters posed a huge challenge for the opposition teams as they had the ability to chase down any score. They have executed numerous run-chases throughout their careers and won India a no. of games.
Also read: Gautam Gambhir breaks silence on Shikhar Dhawan's retirement; did he force the Gabbar to retire?
Shikhar Dhawan recalls the time when he, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli scored "100 centuries in 5 years"
During an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, Dhawan thanked the support staff members under whom he played for India. He also spoke about his journey with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and remembered how the batting trio scored 100 centuries in 5 years during their prime.
"So many coaches have played a part in my career. Duncan Fletcher, Sanjay Bangar, Vikram Rathour, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri. Then all the fielding coaches, batting coaches. I am thankful to all of them who worked on me," Dhawan said.
“We were part of a beautiful journey together. I clearly remember that Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and I scored 100 centuries in 5 years. Ravi bhai was our coach then. Even NCA has played such a huge role, understood how training and rehab is done whenever I got injured. And a big thank you to the BCCI as well,” he added.
India's majestic Top Three
The trio of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli was probably one of the best any team could have produced in the world of cricket. While Dhawan and Rohit used to open the innings, Virat Kohli batted at No. 3.
Between June 2013 and June 2019, the trio scored an astonishing 103 hundreds across all formats of the game. While Virat Kohli led the way during this period with 49 centuries, Rohit Sharma had 30 centuries to his name. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan also contributed his bit with 23 hundreds during this period.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan first came together to open the innings during the 2013 Champions Trophy under the leadership of then-India captain MS Dhoni. Since then, they developed into a prolific opening pair for India. With Kohli at No. 3, it turned out to be a solid top order and served India for years.
