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Shikhar Dhawan shot to fame after an unprecedented run in the 2004 U-19 World Cup, where he scored 505 runs garnished with 3 hundreds. However, it took him a long while to make it to the Indian team due to the large amount of competition at the time. A naturally attacking left-handed opener, Dhawan had been one of the mainstays of the Delhi line-up for a long time and forms an impregnable top-order along with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, scoring runs by the barrel along with them. He was rated quite highly by experts for his ability to dig in and play the big innings.

Dhawan, with his side-on stance and negligible trigger movement, is strong on the off-side with his cuts and drives. His game against spin and the ability to come down the track to attack, and the prowess to score in big games and big tournaments made Dhawan a mainstay in the Indian limited overs team for a long time. A natural stroke-player, Dhawan has the gift of picking the line of the ball early and the length of the ball, allowing him ample time to get into position for any shot that he wishes to play.

After a string of excellent domestic performances, he was handed an India debut against Australia in 2010. He scored a duck and made no significant contributions for a while, as he continued to be the quintessential replacement player in the side. However, given the controversial axing of Virender Sehwag after the second Test, Dhawan was handed the desirable India Test cap to make his debut against the Australians in March 2013. He had a start that he wouldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams as he raced away to the fastest ever hundred on debut off just 85 balls, and continued to score at will on a docile Mohali surface. Shikhar Dhawan continues to hold the record for the highest score by an Indian on Test debut, smashing 185 runs before being dismissed in the first innings.