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Who is a better ODI batsman - Shikhar Dhawan vs Rohit Sharma?

Ab Fan

Ab Fan

Senior Test Player
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A comparison thread between two of the best opening batsmen in the world currently.

Let's start with stats:

Rohit- 6594 runs Avg 44 SR 87 100s 17
Dhawan- 4361 runs Avg 45 SR 93 100s 13

<B>Performance in ICC tournaments:</B>

CT 2013:

Dhawan- 363 runs Avg 90 SR 101
Rohit- 177 runs Avg 35 SR 75

WC 2015

Dhawan- 412 runs Avg 51 SR 91
Rohit- 330 runs Avg 47 SR 91

CT 2017

Dhawan-338 runs Avg 67 SR 101
Rohit- 304 runs Avg 76 SR 86

<B>Performance outside Asia against all opposition:</B>

Shikhar Dhawan:

Australia: 42
SA: 52
Eng: 73
NZ: 30

Rohit Sharma:

Australia: 52
SA: 20
Eng: 54
NZ: 38

<B>Hundreds by match innings:</B>

Dhawan: 6( batting first), 7(chasing)
Rohit: 11(batting first), 6(chasing)

While Rohit is a genius who on his day can do stuffs which very few can, Dhawan is clutch, better chaser and a big match player.

Who do you think is a better odi batsmen?
 
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Dhawan - More consistent. Gives you a steady feast of 30-60 runs at good strike rate.

Rohit - More destructive. When he rains, he pours.
 
Personally, I find Rohit similar to AB (on their day destructive as anyone and can do breathtaking stuffs) while Dhawan to Kohli(big match player, clutch and brilliant under pressure).
 
Gabbar is a fearless player. Gabbar has very little starting trouble. But Rohit has lot of starting trouble. You can easily get him out in the first 10. But once he survives long enough he will turn into another human being.
 
Fascinating comparison..

IMO there is no one better than Rohit in full flow..

However if you see overall performance wise in clutch tournaments I would say Dhawan..

Though as a viewer I would rather want Rohit to succeed in any match than Dhawan because of how elegant he is as a player.
 
Rohit is 30 while Dhawan is 32 currently.

What it means is that Rohit can get to that 10K runs mark till he retires while Dhawan could end up around 6-6.5k runs only.
 
big_gamer007 said:
Fascinating comparison..

IMO there is no one better than Rohit in full flow..

However if you see overall performance wise in clutch tournaments I would say Dhawan..

Though as a viewer I would rather want Rohit to succeed in any match than Dhawan because of how elegant he is as a player.
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Difference between Delhi boys and Mumbai boys :) Delhi boys are clutch players.
 
I don't follow Indian cricket a great deal... but for me Dhawan always seems the bigger threat for the opposition (my opinion might be biased by the fact that Sharma has rarely performed against us)
 
Both can be aggressive. But Rohit has this 6th gear not even Kohli often ventures there.Infact very few in the world like that has that gear. If he is in the zone and he is around 40th over he just explodes. But if you are talking about aggression upfront Dhawan wins hands down. He just lays into bowling.
 
Rohit is Ashwin/Yasir of batting. Looks like a million bucks in his comfort zone, buts gets thoroughly exposed outside. I would pick Dhawan ahead of him in my XI.
 
Lots of complementarity between the two. One is quick off the block and the other can take his time secure in the knowledge that he can do major damage afterwards. The left-right combo also helps to unsettle the bowling lines just a little bit. All in all, India lucky to have these two in LOIs.
 
BlackShadow said:
Rohit is Ashwin/Yasir of batting. Looks like a million bucks in his comfort zone, buts gets thoroughly exposed outside. I would pick Dhawan ahead of him in my XI.
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I do not think Rohit has a specific comfort zone in ODIs, he has scored runs in Australia after all. Dhawan does have that edge on account of performances in world tournaments but other than that they are fairly even with differing strengths/weaknesses.
 
Rohit is better and even consistent compared to Dhawan. Compare both's record as opener as well.
 
I have developed a lot of respect for Dhawan in last 1 year. I think he's incredibly underrated. He's as good if not better than any ATG ODI opener.
 
Dhawan is underrated in ODIs because of his inconsistent test performances but he is a terrific player. Performs in clutch situations, scores big and quickly, a reliable fielder too.
 
Dhawan always looks edgy and out of control. Maybe it's his weird technique. But he is extremely effective and given what he has done for us in ICC tourneys, deserves to be rated above Sharmaji.

Maybe if Sharma hits a double overseas, we can reconsider.
 
In ODI's I would say Shikhar Dhawan. When he's in rhythm he can be a nightmare for the fielding team
 
Rohit is more talented and technically correct but his inconsistency is a huge issue. Dhawan definitely is a better option as he is consistent and scores at a very good strike rate. He should open the batting for India across formats. Don't know why he gets dropped from Test XIs.
 
In ODIS its all about performances durrng ICC events unless you have GOAT like stats.

Dhawan seems very much clutch.
 
Rate Dhawan more than Rohit. Dhawan is also a big match player and ICC tournament bully. So its a great plus over Rohit.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Both can be aggressive. But Rohit has this 6th gear not even Kohli often ventures there.Infact very few in the world like that has that gear. If he is in the zone and he is around 40th over he just explodes. But if you are talking about aggression upfront Dhawan wins hands down. He just lays into bowling.
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This. This is exactly why I put Rohit over Dhawan. That 6th gear that nobody has. I have only seen three batsmen in the whole world who has this 6th gear - Rohit, ABD and Gayle.
 
Ab Fan said:
Rohit is average in ICC tourneys. Dhawan is excellent.

Rohit has scored mostly against BD and SL in ICC tourneys.
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BD and SL have been pretty great in ICC tourneys though. Nobody takes BD lightly in tourneys these days.
 
This ain't a comparison.

Rohit is good but he doesn't fill you up with confidence in tough games and situations (not that he has never scored in them which he has).

Dhawan is an amazing opener. If he continues like this, he will eventually be regarded as an ATG.

Fingers crossed.
 
Ab Fan said:
Rohit is average in ICC tourneys. Dhawan is excellent.

Rohit has scored mostly against BD and SL in ICC tourneys.
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That 137/138 against BD in 2015 was when we lost dhawan & virat early and was pretty good knock.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
This ain't a comparison.

Rohit is good but he doesn't fill you up with confidence in tough games and situations (not that he has never scored in them which he has).

Dhawan is an amazing opener. If he continues like this, he will eventually be regarded as an ATG.

Fingers crossed.
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One wonders why he struggles so much in overseas tests.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
This ain't a comparison.

Rohit is good but he doesn't fill you up with confidence in tough games and situations (not that he has never scored in them which he has).

Dhawan is an amazing opener. If he continues like this, he will eventually be regarded as an ATG.

Fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

Both can be ODI ATG. This pair can become India's greatest opening pair of all time. Unlike Tendulkar-Ganguly or Tendulkar-Sehwag, these two can absolutely dominate and annihilate any team on their days. India is very lucky to have both the current best openers and the greatest no.3 of all time in their team.
 
the_outsider said:
Rohit averages in the 60s in ICC tournaments.
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Not a single inning against the top 5 opposition. SL and BD are minnows only for me in the last few years. They can fluke a win here or there but that's all.

I am setting higher benchmark here. He is not poor in ICC tourneys and not a failure in pressure situation either but there are players who are bigger deal than Rohit in Indian team when it comes to tourneys.
 
Sam99 said:
That 137/138 against BD in 2015 was when we lost dhawan & virat early and was pretty good knock.
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He is good when in zone but when he will be up against world class attack in ICC tourneys, he finds things harder which is visible by the fact that he doesn't have any inning of count against top 5 teams in tourneys.
 
Ab Fan said:
Not a single inning against the top 5 opposition. SL and BD are minnows only for me in the last few years. They can fluke a win here or there but that's all.

I am setting higher benchmark here. He is not poor in ICC tourneys and not a failure in pressure situation either but there are players who are bigger deal than Rohit in Indian team when it comes to tourneys.
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Who in India nowadays is better than Rohit in tourneys and pressure apart from Dhawan? Surely not Kohli or MSD?
 
Ab Fan said:
He is good when in zone but when he will be up against world class attack in ICC tourneys, he finds things harder which is visible by the fact that he doesn't have any inning of count against top 5 teams in tourneys.
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It's not that he can't do it. He will surely do it in worldcup next year.
 
cr7great said:
2019 wc will decide this.
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I agree.

But would add that Sharma just ain't a reliable batsmen.Even when he is in Great form,he will suddenly produce a gem knock like 2 runs of 17 balls in ODI Series decider vs Eng 2018 which perhaps makes his failures more frustating.Nonetheless,It's just too close to call as of now even though Sharma stats might be significantly better as an opener.
 
I will go out on a limb and say that Dhawan is easily the best ODI batsman in the world these last 5-6 years.

Average 47+
SR 94+
15 100s
Balanced record, not a home bully
Top scorer in 2 Champions Trophies (2013, 2017)
One of the top scorers in 2015 World Cup

Don't crucify me for my views but I doubt Kohli, Villiers, Amla, Root, Rohit, KW etc match up to Dhawan.
 
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sensible-indian-fan said:
Nothing to wonder.

Cos he is a garbage test player except on easy pitches.

Wait till he plays on real turners on Asia and he won't score much.
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He's played on several turners, man. 5s test in SL where the ball always turns big, tests in Feroz Shah Kotla and on a dusty Chinnaswamy pitch.

He's good on SC pitches. Period. He's good on hard, bouncy pitches down under too.

He just struggles in the moving conditions found in SA and ENG.
 
He have probably best top 3 in world. In last 5 years out of top 4 run scorer 3 are our top 3.

stat.jpg

Has there been any better top 3 in shorter format? Consistent and match winners.
 
the_outsider said:
He's played on several turners, man. 5s test in SL where the ball always turns big, tests in Feroz Shah Kotla and on a dusty Chinnaswamy pitch.

He's good on SC pitches. Period. He's good on hard, bouncy pitches down under too.

He just struggles in the moving conditions found in SA and ENG.
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Sorry man.

Not true at all.

Ghanta he has played on turners.

Let's look at the data:

1. He started by scoring 187 in Mohali in 2013 against Aus. Amazing knock no doubt but pitch was a road in first innings where Aus piled up 400.

2. Then a couple of failures against WI in India.

3. Then scored 173 against Bangladesh in Bangladesh on an easy track. Again wonderful knock but that test, but again laddoo pitch.

4. Then he scored 134 against SL in Galle which aI admit was a good knock on a good pitch. Didn't play any other games.

5. Against SA in Mohali, he scored a pair. Philander humiliated him on a rank turner.

6. He followed it up with 45* in Bangalore (the rain abandoned match). Nagpur and Delhi against SA he did almost nothing. I will say his Nagpur 2nd innings knock of 39 was good considering situation. But apart from that, went missing. Whole SA series on tough pitches, he was missing.

7. Against NZ in Kolkata spicy pitch for pacers, failed twice. Didn't play any other games.

8. Then came SL tour in 2017 where he made merry. Pitches weren't bad at all but he smashed everyone. This is what made selectors think he might be a good test player. lol.

9. Then Afghanistan 100.

Average in Asia: 61 in 16 tests.

Average in Asia without SL, Bangladesh and Afg: 37

Average in Asia against top 4 teams (cos we never play Pakistan): 39

And point to be noted, this average of 37-39 is because of 1 knock of 187 played 5 years back.

Remove that and it will fall to 21.

He is rubbish.

---

Dhawan has this gift of making it count on flat tracks. If you play him in a home cycle, I am sure he will slam a few centuries on flatties, boost up this average in Asia and fail wherever he needs to apply.

As for playing in Aus, he averages 27 THAT too because somehow he scored an 81 in Gabba.

His next highest score is 28.

Impactless & useless runs.
 
Sam99 said:
He have probably best top 3 in world. In last 5 years out of top 4 run scorer 3 are our top 3.

View attachment 84225

Has there been any better top 3 in shorter format? Consistent and match winners.
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Hayden-Gilchrist-Ponting was better (all three were GOAT in World Cups). India's top 3 need to do well in WC to be the best.
 
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