Shikhar Dhawan at his peak

During the 2017 Champions Trophy, Dhawan scored his 10th ODI century, in the match against Sri Lanka, in his 77th ODI innings, and in the process became the fastest Indian to the landmark, faster than even the prolific Virat Kohli, who needed 80 innings to reach the mark.

Shikhar Dhawan celebrates his century against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy at The Oval in London on June 8.

Shikhar Dhawan is slowly ensuring that he will be remembered as one of India’s best ever ODI batsmen. He has a batting average of 44.81 and a strike rate of 90.56 (Statistics as on June 12, 2017), both of which are among the top five for Indian batsmen (min. 1000 runs). Kohli leads the batting average chart with an average of 53.82, while Virender Sehwag leads the strike rate chart (104.44).

However, even more impressive is the fact that Dhawan seems to be able to raise his game for the big tournaments. Table 1 shows Dhawan’s performance in the three ICC events that he has played in the ODI format. He averages more than 50 in each of the tournaments at a 90-plus strike rate, and has been India’s top-scorer in each of those three events. Even at the junior level, Dhawan had scored 505 runs in the 2004 U-19 World Cup, at an average of 84.16 and a strike rate of 93.51, and was named the Player of the Tournament. No other batsman has scored 500-plus runs in a single U-19 World Cup.

Shikhar Dhawan in ICC ODI Events

 

Across these three tournaments, Dhawan has scored 1046 runs, at an average of 69.73, at a strike rate of 96.58. His batting average is the best in ODI history for any batsman in World Cup and Champions Trophy matches (min. 1000 runs).

Highest Average in World Cup and Champions Trophy (min. 1000 runs)

During the 2017 Champions Trophy, Dhawan scored his 10th ODI century, in the match against Sri Lanka, in his 77th ODI innings, and in the process became the fastest Indian to the landmark, faster than even the prolific Virat Kohli, who needed 80 innings to reach the mark.

• The 2013 Champions Trophy was played in England and the 2017 Champions Trophy has also again been awarded to England, with the 2019 World Cup also to be hosted by England. Why is there no rotation system? Also, why are the 2017 Champions Trophy matches being scheduled during the rainy season despite facing the same issue in the 2013 edition?
• — B. K. Harinath, Mysore, Karnataka
• While this is a non-statistical question that would not normally feature on the Number Nut, it is something on the people’s minds and therefore being addressed here. There is an unofficial rotation system with respect to World Cups and all the Test nations (except Pakistan, due to security concerns) have hosted World Cups since 1999, when England last hosted the event. The Champions Trophy was to be scrapped post the 2013 edition, and replaced by a World Test Championship, the first edition of which was to be hosted in England. However, since that did not come to fruition (due to opposition from broadcasters, sponsors etc.), England was awarded the 2017 Champions Trophy. On the poor scheduling, June is among the fourth driest months in England, so I suppose an element of bad luck has contributed to the frustrating rain interruptions.
• During the third ODI of the recently-concluded England-South Africa series, England lost six wickets inside five overs for 20 runs. Has this ever happened before?
• — Suvojit Halder, Kolkata, West Bengal
• This was the seventh instance of a team losing six wickets for 20 runs or less. However, in none of those previous six instances had the six wickets fallen inside the first five overs, therefore making this a first. The only time that even five wickets fell inside five overs in those previous six games, was when Sri Lanka was reduced to five for nine, against South Africa, in Paarl, in 2012.
• It was all over the papers that Rashid Khan’s haul of seven for 18 against West Indies was the fourth best of all time. However, could you tell me what are the next best figures by an Associate player against a Full Member in ODIs?
• — Abe Abraham, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
• The next-best ODI figures by an Associate bowler against a Full Member nation is Kenyan Collins Obuya’s five for 24 against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup. A fact that demonstrates the significance of Rashid’s feat is that while Rashid is at fourth spot in the all-time list of best bowling figures, Obuya’s performance ranks a lowly 167th.
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