New Delhi, With 10 fours and 2 sixes, Shikhar ‘Gabbar’ Dhawan has hit his skipper Virat Kohli over the ropes. Yes, Australia is second home for Gabbar and it was no surprise that he chose the Kangaroo land to overshadow Kohli. Shikhar achieved the feat with a blistering 76 in tour opener against the Aussies. What has Gabbar done? Read on to find out.
Shikhar has now climbed to the top of table of batsmen with most runs in T20s in a calendar year by beating skipper Kohli. Dhawan now has
646 T20I runs this year. He displaced Kohli, who had made 641 runs in 2016, at the top. At number three is Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman with 576 runs in 2018. Rohit Sharma is at fourth place with 567 runs in 2018.
Maximum runs in T20s in one calendar year ( Minimum 500 T20I runs in a calendar year):
646 – Shikhar Dhawan (2018)
641 – V Kohli (2016)
576 – Fakhar Zaman (2018)
567 – Rohit Sharma (2018)
563 – Babar Azam (2018)
520 – M Shahzad (2016)
503 – A Finch (2018)
500 – C Munro (2018)
Dhawan later said that said poor fielding cost India the game after the visitors lost by four runs via D/L method against Australia in the tour opening first Twenty20 International here at the Gabba.
India first faltered in the field, letting Australia score 158 for four after rain shortened the contest to 17-overs-a-side affair. Glenn Maxwell was the star batsman for Australia, hammering 46 runs off 24 balls.
The 45 minute rain stoppage meant India were set a revised target of 174 runs in 17 overs.
Dhawan smashed a sublime 76 off 42 balls in the run chase before Dinesh Karthik came up with a pulsating 30 off 13 balls towards the end but India still finished agonisingly short on 169 for seven.
“It was a good game of cricket. It was a very close match and both the teams played really well. We got a lot of confidence from this game and will take it forward to the next game.
“Of course missed chances in the field had their own impacts. The dropped catch and missed run out opportunity but that is part and parcel of the game and we took it in our stride. We conceded a few extra runs (in the middle overs) but otherwise we played well,” said Dhawan after the loss.
India were poor in the field on Wednesday. Skipper Virat Kohli dropped his Australian counterpart Aaron Finch in the fourth over, a straight chance spilled at cover, and then miss fielded later on as well.
Khaleel Ahmed too dropped Marcus Stoinis (33 not out off 19 balls) late in the Australian innings, while Maxwell survived a run-out chance.
Chasing the stiff target, Dhawan held the Indian innings together but got out at a crucial juncture. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa (2/22) had earlier left the middle-order struggling, dismissing both KL Rahul and Kohli.
