With over 4400 runs, 13 tons in his kitty; Shikhar Dhawan lays claim as one of India's finest openers

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan scored a stellar ton in his 100th career ODI game against South Africa. He thereby became the first Indian to achieve the milestone in his landmark game. If we go by numbers, Dhawan has been the most prolific run scorer for India in ODIs at the 100th game mark. 

As a matter of fact, his numbers are even better than past batting maestros like Sachin Tendulkar. Sourav Ganguly and even the modern day great Virat Kohli.

With over 4400 runs at a staggering average of 45 plus with an impressive strike rate of 90 plus, Gabbar is a class act. 100 ODIs old, Dhawan surely rubs horns with world class openers - David Warner, Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill, Hashim Amla and Quinton De Cock. Only South Africa's run machine Hashim Amla recorded better figures at this stage of their careers.

India has been blessed with some fine openers over the course of its cricketing history in ODIs. Right from Sunil Gavaskar to Kris Srikkanth, Sachin Tendulkar to Virender Sehwag, 'Men in Blue' had stability upfront with some dependable openers.

When Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were ruling the roost at the international area, a relatively lesser known state team-mate of their's was scoring runs aplenty for Delhi in Ranji Trophy.

Shikhar Dhawan became a prolific run scorer for his stateside for almost five years and fine-tuned his skills with the willow in the domestic grind. After topping the run-scoring charts for several seasons, Dhawan got a well-deserved call into the Indian ODI set up. Dhawan never looked back and grabbed his opportunity with both hands. 

The left-handed Delhi batsman has an attacking game and likes to dominate the bowlers early on in his innings. Dhawan likes to put and cut and has a fondness to drive through the covers. Dhawan is nimble-footed and doesn't mind going down the track to tonk sixes off spinners.

Dhawan is a good player of both pace and spin and has the penchant to score big hundreds when he gets his eye in. Moreover, Dhawan has built a formidable opening pair with Rohit Sharma. 

The Dhawan-Sharma duo has served Indian cricket well over the past five years. The pair has racked up over 3000 runs with 13 century stands between them. It stands only second to the formidable pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who are hailed as the best ever opening duo for India.

Dhawan has built a reputation of scoring big runs in major international tournaments. He had a purple patch with the bat in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England and played an integral role in the team winning the title. Shikhar Dhawan has staked his claim as one of the finest ever openers in limited overs cricket.