NZ vs IND: Shikhar Dhawan scripts another milestone, joins Tendulkar, Dhoni in this sensational elite list

The resilient Shikhar Dhawan once again proved that he still has a lot of steam left in him despite treading the twilight path of his international career. Riding on an impressive 72-run knock in the first ODI against New Zealand on Friday, Dhawan achieved yet another milestone as he became only the seventh Indian batter to complete 12,000 runs in the List A cricket. And with this sensational feat, India's stand-in cricketer has entered the elite of list of Indian legends who have the most List A runs which also features the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and former India skipper MS Dhoni.  

The star southpaw, who blasted 13 fours in his 77-ball knock, needed just 43 runs to get to 12,000 runs and he got there after a cautious start in India's ODI opener against Kiwis. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl against the Men in Blue as India handed debuts to Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik and are fielding both Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.

The visitors are playing with three specialist fast bowlers while the hosts are going in with four of them. Williamson had missed the final match of the T20I series due to a medical appointment but is back to lead the side.

Shikhar Dhawan, who was leading India in the absence of Rohit Sharma, got to the milestone in his 297th List A match. Dhawan has scored 6744 runs in 162 ODIs, which includes 17 hundreds and 30 fifties. Over the years, Dhawan has been a prolific run-getter for Delhi in the domestic circuit.

Highest Run scorer Indian Batsman List 2022

Sachin Tendulkar - 21,999 in 551 matches
Sourav Ganguly - 15, 622 in 437 matches
Rahul Dravid - 15,271 runs in 449 matches
Virat Kohli - 13,786 runs in 296 matches
MS Dhoni - 13,353 runs in 423 matches
Yuvraj Singh - 12,633 runs in 423 matches
Shikhar Dhawan - 12,025 runs in 297* matches

Dhawan paired with his opening partner Shubman Gill to stitch a century partnership for India as the two batters did not let the New Zealand bowlers settle down. It was the 4th time in 9 innings Dhawan and Gill have added 100-plus for the opening partneship.

However, both Dhawan and Gill departed in quick succession with Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson removing the well-set batters before the 25th over of the innings.

The senior batter last played a T20I in 2021 and a Test in 2018 but has been a constant presence in the ODI side. The left-handed batter has led India in the absence of Rohit quite a few times in 2022 as he looks set to seal a spot in the World Cup squad despite heavy competition for the top-order roles.

India's Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, 4 Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal.

New Zealand's Playing XI: Kane Williamson (C), Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson.