5 Indians who won the player of the tournament award in the U19 World Cup

#2 Shikhar Dhawan (2004)

Shikhar Dhawan

Four years after Yuvraj, another Indian left-hander, Shikhar Dhawan rose to fame - this time through the 2004 edition of the U19 World Cup. However, it was a performance that was almost forgotten as Dhawan failed to make the transition to the senior level over the next few years.

The attacking southpaw smashed 505 runs in seven matches of the 2004 edition. Dhawan’s runs came at an average of 84.16 and a strike rate of 93.51. He had three hundreds and a fifty to show for his efforts.

India, however, bowed out of the tournament by losing to Pakistan in the semi-final, with Dhawan contributing only 8.

Although Dhawan made his international debut against Australia in 2010, it wasn’t until 2013, when he smashed the fastest hundred by a Test debutant against Australia, that he rose to fame again. He was subsequently instrumental in India winning the Champions Trophy in 2013, bagging the player of the series trophy.

Since then, Dhawan has made it a habit of rising to the occasion in ICC events. He was India’s leading run-scorer in the 2015 World Cup with 412 runs as the team made it to the semi-final. In the 2019 edition, he made a hundred against Australia, but was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after picking up a thumb injury during the same innings.

With 338 runs, Dhawan was the leading run-getter in the 2017 Champions Trophy as well, a tournament best remembered for India’s meltdown in the final against Pakistan. When fit, Dhawan remains a key figure in India’s scheme of things, especially in one-dayers.