India' top-order batter Shikhar Dhawan has carved his name as one of the most bankable batters in white-ball cricket. The Indian batter is frequent name in the 50-over format of the game and maintains impressive strike rate in the format. The 36-year-old is currently touring Zimbabwe for three-match ODI series.
The batter started his tour on a positive note as he contributed 81 in match winning 192-run partnership with Shubman Gill in the series opener. While he could only score 33 runs in the second ODI, his innings in the final match of the series received lot of criticism from cricket fans.
Dhawan stitched 63-run partnership with KL Rahul (30 off 46) by adding 40-runs off 68 deliveries at a strike rate of 58.82. Although Dhawan smashed five boundaries, he relatively played too defensive infront of Zimbabwe bowlers. While taking a sly dig at Indian batter, a twitter user termed it as a 'selfish' innings and claimed that the southpaw was just improvising his stats instead of smashing up bowlers of the comparatively weaker team.
Meanwhile, Indian batter Shubman Gill smashed his maiden ton in the format as he scored blitz 130-runs knock off 97 deliveries. Apart from Gill, Ishan Kishan too made valuable contribution with the bat as he smashed second fifty in the format. On the back of these two impressive knocks, Team India managed to post 289/8 in 50 overs.
While, India's top-order delivered significantly well, middle-order batters disappointed with their performances. The likes of Deepak Hooda (1 off 3), Sanju Samson (15 off 13), Axar Patel (1 off 4) and Shardul Thakur (9 off 6) could not impressive with their batting. For the hosts, right arm medium-fast bowler Brad Evans picked five wickets in the game as he dismissed the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, skipper KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda and Shardul Thakur.
Team India has already the clinched the three-match ODI series by winning first two matches and will look to add yet another white-wash under their belt. After concluding the Zimbabwe tour, Team India under the leadership of Rohit Sharma will be seen in action in upcoming T20 Asia Cup 2022 which will commence on August 27th.
