The India National Cricket Team opener, Shikhar Dhawan completed his 5000 ODI runs on Wednesday in Napier. During the first game of the five-match series against New Zealand, Dhawan attained such a feat. Meanwhile, he also became the fifth fastest overall batsman and the second fastest Indian to collect 5000 ODI runs. No surprises, the fastest to complete 5000 ODI runs is the India captain, Virat Kohli.
Dhawan, Rohit lead India’s chase in Napier
India bowled first after losing the toss at the McLean Park. Mohammed Shami sent back the NZ openers, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro cheaply. Later, the leg-spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal started from where he had left. Post the first ten overs, Chahal got the big fishes in Ross Taylor and Tom Latham. However, Kuldeep Yadav further dented New Zealand’s chances of making a huge total. He first grabbed a stunner to dismiss Henry Nicholls, and then took four wickets to wrap Kiwis’ first innings on 157.
While chasing the total, the pair of Dhawan and Rohit Sharma began cautiously. Though they didn’t find gaps in the first few overs, both made sure they didn’t lose their wicket in the middle. Moreover, the left-handed batsman completed his 5000 ODI runs in the meantime.
During the sixth over of the India innings, Dhawan took a single and thus attained the feat to his name. Not only this, during the first ODI itself, bowler Mohammed Shami completed his 100th ODI wicket too; removing Martin Guptill in his first over. He, however, scalped two more wickets in the first game.
Virat Kohli leads the chart
No surprises here, as Virat Kohli became the fastest to 5000 ODI runs in 114 innings. Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, took four more innings to reach the milestone. The others on the list are former India captains, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and ex-opener, Gautam Gambhir.
Fastest Indians to 5000 ODI runs –
- Virat Kohli (114 innings)
- Shikhar Dhawan (118 innings)
- Sourav Ganguly (126 innings)
- MS Dhoni (135 innings)
- Gautam Gambhir (135 innings)