Shikhar Dhawan Scripts History, Joins Virat Kohli and David Warner in an Elite List
Shikhar Dhawan in action [Source: AP]
In a remarkable turn of events, veteran Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan has completed fifty half centuries in the Indian Premier League. The stylish southpaw led Punjab Kings from the front tonight, slamming a well-composed fifty and attaining the aforementioned milestone in this process.
Thus, Dhawan joined Virat Kohli and David Warner, the only two batters to have recorded 50 half centuries in the tournament. While Warner occupies the top position with 57 IPL fifties, Kohli and Dhawan have the joint-most fifties (50) to their names.
Most Fifties in IPL
- David Warner: 57
- Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan: 50
- AB de Villiers, Rohit Sharma: 40
- Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir: 35
- KL Rahul: 32
After opting to bat first, Punjab Kings had a disastrous start to their innings, as Harshit Rana dismantled their top-order, dismissing Prabhsimran Singh and Bhanuka Rajapaksa cheaply. Liam Livingstone also recorded a failure, being outfoxed and trapped plumb in front of the stumps by Varun Chakravarthy in the sixth over.
However, Dhawan steadied the ship alongside keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, playing his anchor's role to perfection. The PBKS captain struck nine glorious boundaries and a solitary six for his 47-ball 57 before falling prey to his KKR counterpart in the fifteenth over.
As of writing, PBKS are 124 for five, with Sam Curran and Rishi Dhawan batting on 7* and 3*, respectively.
.jpg "Gurbaz Grabs!")
 "Debashis Sarangi")
