Not everyday one would see international cricketers celebrating upon reaching an personal score of 99*, but veteran Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan once did make sure to do the unprecedented despite fully realizing he did not reach the three-figure mark. The man convincing him for the act was his fellow teammate and dear friend, former India captain Virat Kohli.
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Been playing together since age-group cricket for Delhi, Dhawan and Kohli share a great bond and camaraderie with each other despite the latter being four years younger than the former. Fun-loving characters that they have always been, the duo are known to play a host of pranks on their fellow teammates.
Moreover, the two top-order batters also happen to share a more-or-less similar music taste as well. While Dhawan is a huge fan of the legendary Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann, Kohli loves to hum the songs sung by Arijit Singh. However, when together, they will be seen grooving to the beats of popular Punjabi songs.
Virat Kohli Once Embarrassed Shikhar Dhawan By Convincing Him To Celebrate A Hundred On 99*
That said, the southpaw would’ve never expected that his dear mate would cause him an embarrassment at the moment he was supposed to be on top of the world. Playing only his sixth Test match and on his maiden tour to New Zealand in February 2014, Dhawan was under a bit of pressure before the first Test match in Auckland after an ordinary tour of South Africa around a month ago.
Clearing aside his first innings score of 0, Dhawan was well on course towards a maiden Test century on New Zealand soil during the second innings. Batting on 93*, he hit a glorious six over wide long-on off spinner Ish Sodhi to take his score to 99*.
Suddenly, an enthusiastic Virat Kohli at the other end scampered towards him to celebrate the century moment. An impulsive Dhawan took his helmet off and looked towards the sky to thank the almighty, as the commentators and fellow teammates in the dressing room were having a nice laugh about the entire so-called confusion in the middle.
However, during a interaction with popular YouTuber Vikram Sathaye a few years ago, Dhawan revealed how he was fully aware of having not reached his century as yet, but went ahead with the celebrations anyway upon Kohli’s insistence. He hilariously went on to remark that since he had scored some runs after a long time, he decided to go ahead with his premature celebration!
“Mere ko pata tha ki 99* pe hoon main. Virat wahan se, ‘Ohh! Congratulations, yeh woh’. Maine kaha nahin hue yaar abhi. Woh keh raha hai, ‘Nahin, nahin, ho gaye, karo karo’. Ab bade din baad run bane the, toh maine bhi apna style kiya pura jo mera yun rehta hai century ka. Toh uske baad wahan se hui ki meri 99 hui hai. Maine kaha, ‘Le, kara di beizzati meri!?’. Phir woh running end me has raha hai. Commentators mera mazak uda rahe hain, kyunki unhe nahi pata na ki field pe kya hua hai [I knew I was batting on 99*. Virat [Kohli] from the other end went, ‘Ohh! Congratulations, and all that’. I was like, ‘I haven’t reached the century mark yet’. Then he was like, ‘No, no. It’s done, you celebrate’. Now, I had scored runs after a long time. So, I went ahead with the celebrations in the way I usually do. Then, all of them from the dressing room prompted that I was still on 99*. I remarked, ‘You’ve successfully managed to humiliate me!’. Virat is laughing at the running end, while commentators are making fun of me as they didn’t know what had happened on the field.”]
Much to Dhawan’s relief, he smashed a boundary the next ball to repeat the celebrations all over again. In what was Dhawan’s second Test century, it is to be noted that he ended up scoring a total of seven across his 34-match Test career. Kohli, meanwhile, has completed 76 international centuries and is 24 short of touching Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar‘s 100-century world record.
Shikhar Dhawan’s Performance During India’s Tour Of South Africa 2013/14
Dhawan had mentioned above how he was desperately in need for a big score under his belt after having an ordinary tour of South Africa in 2013/14.
During the two completed ODIs against the Proteas, he had returned with scores of 12 and 0 in Johannesburg and Durban respectively. In as many Tests, he had managed to score a mere 76 runs across four innings at an average of 19. He was out caught in each of these four innings.
Less than a year ago, he had began his Test career with a bang on the back of smashing 187 (174) in his debut innings against Australia in Mohali. Three months later, he ended up as the highest run-scorer of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, with 363 runs across five innings at an average of 90.75.
