Shikhar Dhawan vs Gautam Gambhir; Who Was A Better ODI Opener For India?

Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir [X]Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir [X]

Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan have been two of the best openers India have seen in the last 20 years. Interestingly, it was the dip in Gambhir's peformance, that made way for Shikhar Dhawan at the intertnational stage. Both Shikhar and Gambhir have played some crucial knocks for India and have been the hero for the team in many games. 

Although they were contemporaries, Dhawan's career flourished a bit later than Gambhir. However, as the time period of their international appearances is nearly similar, one can compare the two batters. Both these left-handers were known for their peformances in crucial games of important tournaments. Let us try and analyse who was a better ODI opener for India. 

Dhawan vs Gambhir - Career stats comparison

Players
Matches
Runs
Average
Strike Rate
Shikhar Dhawan1646,79344.1191.35
Gautam Gambhir913,36739.6186.49

Well after a flat look at the numbers one can say that Shikhar Dhawan was not only a more aggressive batter than Gautam Gambhir, he was also more consistent. As Dhawan played in this format during the evolution of the game, one can say that Gambhir had a competitive strike rate as per his era. However, when the consistency is seen, it is clear that Dhawan was way ahead as an opener. 

Dhawan vs Gambhir - Multinational tournaments peformance

Players
Matches
Runs
Average
100s
Shikhar Dhawan291,77263.288
Gautam Gambhir17
65841.121

Shikhar Dhawan was a master of the art, when it comes to batting in the multinational tournaments. The numbers clearly show that, Dhawan was way ahead of Gambhir when it comes to performing in the ICC trophies and Asia Cups. 

Dhawan vs Gambhir - In knockouts of Multinational tournaments

Players
Matches
Runs
Average
100s
Shikhar Dhawan725636.570
Gautam Gambhir22110.500

The numbers show that Shikhar Dhawan has a better record in the knockouts of the multinational tournaments. One must remember that one of the most important knocks in India's ODI circket history came from Gambhir in 2011 World Cup final at number three. Hence, if only compared as openers, Dhawan is ahead of Gambhir in this case too. 

Conclusion

As far as ODI batting is concerned, Shikhar Dhawan has the edge over Gautam Gambhir in all the metrics that have been used here. As per this study, Shikhar Dhawan was the better ODI opener for India when compared to Gautam Gambhir.