Indian star opener Shikhar Dhawan is the player who made history on his Test debut. In 2013, the star made his debut against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Mohali. Dhawan then scored the fastest century by a player on Test debut.
Dhawan scored 187 runs off 174 balls that day. The player, who was on the bench in the first two Tests, will make his debut in the third Test. Later, he was a regular presence in the Indian Test team for four years. Dhawan was a regular part of the playing eleven in the Test matches held in the country. However, the star was not often in the playing eleven in Tests held outside Asia.
The player was dropped from the Test team during 2016-17. He was last in the Test team in 2018. Later the star was not included in red ball cricket. Since 2019, the player has not played in Ranji either. In a recent interview, the star himself revealed the reason behind not playing Ranji cricket. The veteran opener said that he knew he would never play Tests again and that is why he did not play Ranji.
“Criticisms about not playing the Ranji Trophy are not taken seriously. Knowing about my Test career…I have not been in the Test team for the last 2-3 years. Age factor is also present in the life of every cricketer – the life of a sportsperson is different. What can I do knowing that the young guys will be better and can’t play as well? I will rest my body and be refreshed’ – said Dhawan.
The player has scored 2,315 runs in 34 Tests from 2013 to 2018. He was a permanent member of the Indian ODI team from 2013 to 2022. The player has been out of the team since the ODI series against New Zealand. Dhawan is leading Punjab Kings in IPL. Dhawan was part of the Indian team in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups and the 2014 and 2016 Twenty20 World Cups.