Born on the 5th of December, 1985, the 27 year old Indian opening batsman, Shikhar Dhawan, first came to notice when he was only 19. He is an attacking left handed batsman and is another addition to the power packed top order from Delhi, which already consists of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
He was only 19, when he first came to notice during the U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2003-04. He was the player of the tournament in that World Cup for scoring more than 500 runs at an average of over 84; this included three centuries by the young lad. He was well supported by then team member Suresh Raina in most of his innings. Although, he won the player of the tournament trophy, the selectors preferred Raina over him.
Dhawan continued to perform when he debuted for Delhi’s Ranji Team in 2004-05 sessions. Even there he finished as the team’s leading run scorer with more than 450 runs to his credit. He has been consistently one of the most key players in the Delhi’s Ranji Team, his average of more than 45 in the Ranji Trophy speak volumes itself. His contribution of 570 runs in 8 matches in the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy helped Delhi bag the Ranji title.
He grabbed the attention of the TV audience after the IPL was inaugurated; he has played for Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers in one, two and two seasons of IPL respectively. He has been a key player in almost all of his IPL teams. In only 57 matches, he has already scored 13 half centuries and averages more than 30.
On 14th March 2013, Shikhar Dhawan replaced the out-of-form Virender Sehwag in the 3rd test against Australia at Mohali. On the third day of the Mohali test, he showed his mettle by scoring the fastest century on debut and the highest score by an Indian batsman on debut. It took him only 85 balls to finish his century and he was unbeaten at the end of the third day of the test at 185. He got out on 187 and holds the record for the sixth highest score on debut by any player in the world and record for the fastest century on debut.