4 Indian batsmen who scored a century in their first Test as opener

#1 Shikhar Dhawan (187 vs Australia)

Shikhar Dhawan

Like Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan also received his first cap in the longest format of the game against the Aussies. India were struggling to find a suitable partner for Murali Vijay at the top and Dhawan, who represents Delhi at the domestic level, was in the middle of a good run before getting an opportunity in the national team.

In 133 first-class innings, Dhawan had piled up 5860 runs at an average of about 46 before donning the Test whites.

The opening batsman announced his arrival to Test cricket in a fearless manner. At Mohali, Dhawan scored a brutal hundred in his very first game. He smacked runs all around the park, with the cover region being his favourite, as he scored 69 runs in that area.

Dhawan’s wonderful innings came to an end as he was caught by Ed Cowan at silly point off Nathan Lyon’s bowling. The swashbuckling knock consisted of as many as 33 fours and a couple of sixes.

The Dhoni-led team won the third match of the series to seal the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The southpaw was presented with ‘Man of the Match’ award for his incredible knock of 187 runs off just 174 balls.