Shikhar Dhawan scales Mount 5K in Napier ODI against New Zealand

Shikhar Dhawan entered a very special club of batsmen during the Napier ODI against India on Wednesday. The left-hander, who had a poor series against Australia, steered a shortish ball from Tim Southee to the third man fence to reach 5000 runs in ODIs. Dhawan became the 13^th Indian batsmen to reach the landmark, with Sachin Tendulkar leading the charts with 18426 runs in 463 games. His ODI opening partner Rohit Sharma also has over 7600 runs while Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli has scored over 10000 runs in ODIs. Dhawan struck a couple of boundaries to help India get their chase of 158 off to a great start after the Indian bowlers bowled brilliantly.

Dhawan is the second-fastest Indian to reach the mark of 5000 runs in just 118 innings, equal with Brian Lara. Kohli is the fastest Indian to go past 5000 runs, having achieved the feat in just 114 innings while Hashim Amla of South Africa is the quickest in 101 innings.

The Delhi left-hander has acquired a reputation of being dominant in major ICC tournaments in the last five years. In the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in England, Dhawan scored two centuries and blasted 363 runs at an average of 90.75 as India won the Champions Trophy by five runs against England in the final in Birmingham, making MS Dhoni the only captain to win all three major ICC tournaments under his captaincy tenure.

More glory came for Dhawan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 which was held in Australia and New Zealand. The left-hander blasted 137 against South Africa in Melbourne as India won against the Proteas for the first time ever in the competition. In eight matches, Dhawan smashed 412 runs at an average of over 50 but India crashed out in the semi-final of the tournament losing to eventual winners Australia.

In the 2017 Champions Trophy, Dhawan showed his class as he smashed 125 against Sri Lanka at the Oval but India lost the final to Pakistan. Overall, it was a good tournament for him as he smashed 338 runs at an average of 67.6. Dhawan has formed a formidable opening pair with Rohit Sharma in ODIs. They are only the second Indian pair after Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar to hit over 4000 opening partnership runs. Overall, they are the fourth pair to secure this record.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Dhawan became the 13th Indian batsmen to hit 5000 runs.
• India are on course for a win against New Zealand in Napier.
• Dhawan has a good record in major ICC tournaments.