If grabbing an opportunity was a task, then India’s ever flamboyant opener Shikhar Dhawan would undoubtedly be a professional! Making his comeback to Test cricket, as a replacement for the injured M. Vijay, Dhawan endured an unforgettable outing against Sri Lanka, on the first day of the series opener at Galle. The Delhi opener just toyed away with the helpless Sri Lankan bowlers as he registered the fifth ton of his career.
Incidentally, this was Dhawan’s second ton in Sri Lanka, and his previous one out here too came at Galle, a couple of years ago. A fascinating aspect about Dhawan’s century though, was the rate at which it came, as the southpaw scored at nearly a run a ball, and that added tremendous pressure on the host bowlers.
Dhawan’s ton was so fluent and rapid, that it propelled him to create a new record and niche for himself. Since his world record debut knock of 187 against Australia, Dhawan has the top three quickest centuries for India.
During that debut knock, Dhawan registered his century in just a mere 85 balls, and till date, that remains the quickest ever debut ton. A couple of years later in 2015 against Bangladesh at Fataullah, the destructive opener registered his century in 101 deliveries.
And today, on a deck that remains a paradise for batting, Dhawan got to the three figure mark in just 110 deliveries. Thereby, Dhawan now has the quickest three Test tons for India ever since his debut in this format.
When he got to his century, the Indian camp was full in smiles, and below is the video of that.
https://twitter.com/abhishkpandey29/status/890117890015465472