Shikhar Dhawan Retires

Shikhar Dhawan is the finest left handed ODI opener India have had to date. The table below shows all ODI openers who scored at least 5000 runs in their careers in the opening position and their average and scoring rate. It also shows the same figures for the other three ODI openers who played in the same matches they did (“OTH R”, “OTH AVE” and “OTH SR”).

The chart below shows the difference between the player’s average and scoring rate and that of the other three openers in a chart for all openers who have at least 3000 career runs to their name (this makes it possible to include Gautam Gambhir).

This method locates each player in relation to contemporaries in arguably the most precise way possible - it considers the players record and that of the other three openers in the same match on the same pitch on the same day under the same rules. It is difficult to compare cricketers across eras. But, if one player is eight runs per 100 BF slower and five runs per dismissal more consistent than his contemporaries, and another is five runs per dismissal more consistent and four runs per 100 BF quicker, then its not difficult to rank them. There is a trade-off between speed and consistency in run scoring, and better players navigate this trade-off better.

No Indian left handed opener has managed this trade-off better than Shikhar Dhawan as of today. Dhawan has been a marvellous player in a marvellous era for the Indian ODI side. He was good enough to command a place in the best team in the world of his time and earned 167 ODI caps for IND, and scored 6793 runs at average 44.1 and scoring rate 91.4. He made 17 centuries and 39 fifties. He reached at least fifty on every third visit over his career. A stellar career.