Shikhar Dhawan's birthday: Indian cricketers wish the 'ever-smiling' Gabbar on his special day

Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has played a pivotal role in the Indian cricket team's success at ICC tournaments since 2013. He won the Golden Bat award when the Men in Blue lifted the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013, and the team has always finished in the Top 4 of the recent ICC events thanks to Dhawan's performances at the top.

Unfortunately, Shikhar Dhawan picked up an injury during the Cricket World Cup 2019 and could not represent the nation at the global event after the fixture against Australia.

While the Delhi-based player has been fantastic in white-ball cricket, Shikhar Dhawan is no longer a regular member of the Indian Test squad. He played his last Test match against England at The Oval two years ago. The 35-year-old has aggregated 2,315 runs in 34 matches in the game's longest format.

Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, and Prithvi Shaw have opened the innings in his absence while the selectors have preferred Hanuma Vihari and Shubman Gill over Shikhar Dhawan for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy series against Australia.

Nevertheless, the left-handed batsman has been a match-winner in the other two formats. In the recently-concluded IPL 2020, Shikhar Dhawan became the first batsman in tournament history to register two consecutive hundreds. It is pertinent to note that he had not touched the three-figure mark before in his T20 career.

The cricket universe loves Shikhar Dhawan's celebrations on the field. His unique thigh-fives and the trademark century celebration have won many fans' hearts. Even his teammates love his jolly character and here's how the top Indian cricket team stars wished Dhawan on his 35th birthday.

Former Indian cricket team openers Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer send hilarious birthday wishes to Shikhar Dhawan

Many Many happy returns of the day to a ever smiling guy I admire a lot , @SDhawan25 . Sasural mein khoob khoob run banao baaki matches mein bhi aur har khushi manaao. May you get to have many more celebrations , itni ki jaanghein laal ho jaayein . pic.twitter.com/8U5MVHLlaX

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) December 5, 2020

Happy Birthday @SDhawan25 Paaji, you are an amazing human being so full of life and joy. May God bless you abundantly. 🎂🎉🙌 pic.twitter.com/XCuiIkwie3

— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) December 5, 2020

Happy birthday @SDhawan25, lots of love and wish u all the happiness pic.twitter.com/iKtRUhXGD9

— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) December 5, 2020

Happy birthday @SDhawan25 Wishing you happiness and success always. Have a great day. 🎂🎉 pic.twitter.com/pZvsdA2Qqz

— Umesh Yaadav (@y_umesh) December 5, 2020

To the guy who can smile Even on a hospital bedHope by the end of the tourYour thigh is red 😉Happy Birthday @SDhawan25 #AusvInd #ThighFive pic.twitter.com/rb5PW2arYf

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) December 5, 2020

Happy Birthday Shikhar! May you be blessed with all the happiness and success! @SDhawan25 pic.twitter.com/oDhHcVLYV6

— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) December 5, 2020

Janamdin di lakh, lakh vadhaiyan jatt ji @SDhawan25! Wishing you good health and loads of success.! Create some thunder down under! 👍👊 pic.twitter.com/dRsdbiq9cL

— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) December 5, 2020

Wishing you a day full of laughter and happiness and a year that brings you much success. Happy Birthday @SDhawan25 paaji 🌺🌺 pic.twitter.com/UbKM8YukeS

— Navdeep Saini (@navdeepsaini96) December 5, 2020

Many many happy returns of the day @SDhawan25! Have a great one brother! Enjoy your day! Good luck for everything! pic.twitter.com/ko8yJVTuq8

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) December 5, 2020

Happy birthday brother @SDhawan25 Rab tenu hamesha khush te tandrust rakhe🤗🤗 pic.twitter.com/PjttRrTGk5

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 5, 2020