They say that a leader leads the path in any glorious adventure and Shikhar Dhawan was no exemption from the aforementioned adage.
India displayed all-round dominance to refute Sri Lanka a moment of peace barring a couple of stints that uplifted their spirits. They were off to a decent start when Dhawan’s decision to bring in Yuzi and Kuldeep worked wonders.
India’s new captain mixed the middle overs exceptionally well between Chahar, Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav to confine Sri Lanka within 262. Despite an excellent display in the middle overs, Indian bowling let slip of affairs towards the end as Sri Lanka managed 60 plus runs in the last five overs.
However, the total seemed like a cakewalk for India, thanks to a blinding start by Prithvi Shaw. Dhawan played a very reticent knock alongside the likes of two explosive batters in the form of Shaw and Ishan Kishan.
Dhawan started calling the shots after Kishan was removed. He chimed in with equal brilliance and belligerence alongside Manish Pandey, stitching together a fine stand of 82 runs.
After Pandey was removed, Dhawan carried on with onslaught, joining forces with Suryakumar Yadav. It was finally from the bat of Dhawan that the winnings runs were hammered, completing the chase in a matter of just 37 overs.
Dhawan stayed unbeaten on 86 from 95 balls, striking six fours and one six to propel India to their opening victory under his leadership.
Twitteratti simply couldn’t stop praising Shikhar Dhawan’s bedazzling leadership. We will take a look at the best ten tweets about Dhawan’s captaincy debut.
An excellent knock from Shikhar Dhawan to make his captaincy debut memorable.#SLvIND #Cricket #CricTracker #ShikharDhawan pic.twitter.com/lwRRqE02Dm
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) July 18, 2021
The Captain scoring the winning run. Always a sight to behold!?
India 1-0 up in the ODI seriesTune into Sony Six (ENG), Sony Ten 1 (ENG), Sony Ten 3 (HIN), Sony Ten 4 (TAM, TEL) & SonyLIV (https://t.co/QYC4z57UgI) now! ?#SLvINDOnlyOnSonyTen #HungerToWin #ShikharDhawan pic.twitter.com/nPltAu8Sxw
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) July 18, 2021
Most runs in the first 140 ODI innings:-
6625: Hashim Amla
6221: Virat Kohli
6063: Shikhar Dhawan*
6035: Kane Williamson
5998: Vivian Richards#SLvIND #ShikharDhawan— ComeOn Cricket ??? (@ComeOnCricket) July 18, 2021
.@SDhawan25 made an impressive debut as ODI captain as @BCCI won easily by seven wickets against @OfficialSLC. #Dhawan also broke some records as he completed 6000 ODI runs. #SLvIND #SLvsIND #ShikharDhawan #ViratKohli #SouravGanguly.
Check – https://t.co/OcMqeI8gEK
— CricketCountry (@cricket_country) July 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/sumit_vk18_/status/1416802985032572937?s=19
? CAPTAIN’S KNOCK! Gabbar at his best ?
? Getty • #INDvSL #SLvIND #shikhardhawan #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/sBCFZ9wtRY
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) July 18, 2021
Fifty for Shikhar Dhawan, his 33rd in ODIs. He also reached the landmark of 6,000 runs, what a captaincy debut for him.#ShikharDhawan @C4CRICVENKATESH @sandeepskb128 pic.twitter.com/2QCSDIg10u
— Chaturveda Royal (@ChaturvedaRoyal) July 18, 2021
Shikhar Dhawan Completed his 33rd Odi Fifty & first as captain in his debut match. Not out on 50*(61).
Well played Captain . #ShikharDhawan #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/87RFHWW5gi— Surinder (@navsurani) July 18, 2021
Captain shows his class @SDhawan25 Only a matter of time now ?
India dominated like only they could ??#ShikharDhawan #INDvSL— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) July 18, 2021
You can’t Change the Fact that Shikhar Dhawan is the Best Left Hand Opener of India ??
#INDvSL #ShikharDhawan pic.twitter.com/ypHFNK2Qgp
— Hari MSDian
(@itzHariMsd) 
