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India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test: Shikhar Dhawan hits 5th Test century, silences his critics

This was his 5th international Test century which came off just 110 balls. He opened the innings with Abhinav Mukund after Indian won the toss

Shikhar Dhawan made a comeback in the Indian test squad after almost 9 months and struck a magnificent century in the very first game of the 3-match Test series against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on July 26. This was his 5th international Test century which came off just 110 balls. He opened the innings with Abhinav Mukund after skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first.

In his 102* runs knock, he smashed 16 boundaries and played with a strike rate over 90. On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara, who came in at number 3 after the dismissal of Abhinav Mukund (12), is playing a stable inning and moving gradually towards his 16th international Test 50.

Shikhar Dhawan last appeared in the white outfit in October 2016 against New Zealand. He was ruled out after suffering an injury and was replaced by Gautam Gambhir. Dhawan was already going through a bad form then while the injury kept him away from the Indian squad for quite long. Later, he was surprisingly selected for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 held in England where was the highest runs getter of the tournament. He continued his good form in the West Indies tour as well where he opened the innings with Ajinkya Rahane.

Initially, Dhawan was not a part of the Test squad. Somehow Murali Vijay’s injury turned out to be blessing in disguise for Dhawan and he was included in the squad later.

As soon as Dhawan knocked his 5th Test century, the cricket fans on Twitter congratulated the Gabbar of Team India for his amazing feat!

Congrats #shikhardhawan for the blazing ton. #SLvIND #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/NmNRVbWkr2

— Aashish Kushwaha (@ParwanaDeewana) July 26, 2017

One Punch Enough From #Gabbar #ShikharDhawan #SLvIND #INDvSL #T pic.twitter.com/mH06briEFR

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirRvindrJadeja) July 26, 2017

#ShikharDhawan gets his test century #SLvIND and completes runs vs #SriLanka pic.twitter.com/wKMo9tvT2P

— BookMyShow (@bookmyshow) July 26, 2017

Enough said@SDhawan25

Dhawan = Gabbar#ShikharDhawan
#shikhardhawan #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/OhFaA0tdhn

— SPYder – Mahesh (@urstrulyGouse) July 26, 2017

Welcome back #ShikharDhawan to Test Cricket.
Smashing century in comeback match is impressive, that too away from home.#INDvsSL

— Vivek Singh (@singhvivek83) July 26, 2017

Dhawan is flying, are flying. So much so that we missed Che Pujara passing 50 as well. Chanceless knock!#SLvIND https://t.co/IBYZUP9g8P pic.twitter.com/3moRBb2Fnv

— ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) July 26, 2017

What a moment to cherish by @SDhawan25 . Scoring his fifth test ton. And the celebrations – #Gabbar style. #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/UpeP11F8wI

— Debasis Sen (@debasissen) July 26, 2017

Earlier, all-rounder Hardik Pandya made his Test debut. He received the 289th Test cap from skipper Virat Kohli right ahead of the game.

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