Shikhar Dhawan Smashes Century On Return To First-Class Cricket

India’s limited-overs opener Shikhar Dhawan announced his arrival in style with a sensational century in first-class cricket while playing for Delhi against Hyderabad in the third round of Ranji Trophy. Dhawan scored his 25th first-class century off 147 balls at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. He hadn’t played a first-class game for 15 months and when he turned up for the game, he made his presence count on the pitch.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan experienced a deep gash on his knee while playing in the Syed Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament and had to get 25 stitches. Shikhar Dhawan who has been declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) got the much-needed time to play domestic cricket before the international games.

His comeback knock must have impressed the selectors and Dhawan would be hoping to make a return to Test cricket in the future. He was last seen playing Test cricket during India’s tour of England in 2018. After failing to score runs in the first Test, he was kept out of playing XI for the second game but was picked for the next three Tests before being excluded for the home series against West Indies.

Shikhar Dhawan will be available for Delhi if they make it to the knockouts:

Now that it has been confirmed that Delhi captain will not be available for the upcoming fixtures because he will join the national squad for three T20Is against Sri Lanka and three ODIs against Australia. He will then fly to New Zealand in January and February. Although Shikhar Dhawan will be available for Delhi just in case if the team makes it to the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, India announced their squad for forthcoming home T20I series against Sri Lanka which starts in early January, next year. After playing Sri Lanka T20Is, India will play three-match ODI series against Australia. India’s squad for Australia ODI series has also been announced.

Shikhar Dhawan who did not take part in India’s limited-overs’ set up against West Indies due to injury has been named in India squad for Sri Lanka T20Is and Australia ODIs respectively.

India T20I squad for Sri Lanka series:

Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar.

India ODI squad for Australia series:

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.

Full schedule of India’s matches in January 2020

T20I series vs Sri Lanka

1st T20I- Barasapara Cricket Ground, Guwahati – January 5
2nd T20I- Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore – January 7
3rd T20I at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune – January 10

ODI series vs Australia

1st ODI- Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai – January 14
2nd ODI- Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot – January 17
3rd ODI- M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru – January 19