Bowlers who have been nightmare for Shikhar Dhawan in T20 cricket

Left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has been a consistent performer both for the Indian cricket team and Team Delhi in the Indian T20 League.

Having made his T20I debut against West Indies in 2011, the 35-year-old has established himself as a big match player for India in the shortest format of the game.

Dhawan has played 68 T20Is for the Men in Blue, amassing 1759 runs at an average of 27.92 and strike rate of 126.36. He is currently the third-highest run-getter for India in T20Is, only behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

The Delhi-born cricketer holds the record for most runs (689) by a batsman in a calendar year (2018) in cricket’s shortest format.

The Indian T20 League has seen Dhawan score some impressive runs for Delhi and Hyderabad. The southpaw is second on the list of most runs scored by a batsman in the Indian T20 League's history, with 5619 runs at an average of 37.77 and a strike rate of 127.27. Currently, Bangalore captain Virat Kohli leads the list with 6081 runs in 200 games.

Dhawan also became just the third batsman to score 400-plus runs in six consecutive Indian T20 League seasons between 2016 and 2021. The other two players to achieve the feat are Suresh Raina and David Warner.

Bowlers who dismissed Shikhar Dhawan the most in T20 cricket

Australia all-rounder James Faulkner, Indian pacer Mohit Sharma, Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga and other fast bowlers, including Praveen Kumar, Shane Watson and Zaheer Khan, have dismissed Shikhar Dhawan the most times (4) in T20 cricket.

Dhawan has been dropped quite a few times from the Indian cricket team squad, given his struggles with pace bowlers. He has often been criticised for maintaining a slow strike rate and failing to hit big shots from the beginning of his T20 innings.

Featured photo: Jewel SAMAD / Ian KINGTON /AFP