Friday Fights | The Big ODI Fight - Shikhar Dhawan vs Shane Watson

Much before Aaron Finch did it with equal ferocity, for every David Warner dazzling at the other end, there was an inherent assuredness of Shane Watson. Every time Rohit Sharma did something incredible, it was Shikhar Dhawan who invariably had an impact. However, like the story of every support act, their contributions sometimes go unnoticed, only to be realised when they are gone. 

The first knock from the Delhite and Watson is down on his knees. Shikhar Dhawan’s career average of 45.14 is easily better than Watson's, 40.54 to keep a two-point difference. Watson should have done better here but his mid-career lull played a part. 

ROUND 2 -> AVERAGE IN FOREIGN CONDITIONS: Second straight point for Indian

Watson punches above his weight in the second round but alas, Dhawan doesn’t bog down at all. The duo have identical numbers (Watson has 39.00 to Dhawan’s 39.29) when it comes to average in foreign conditions, something that determines the legacy in more ways than one. This was pretty close and I am going with Perfect 10 for both of them.

ROUND 3 -> AVERAGE IN HOME CONDITIONS: Sikhi Bhai On a roll

Damn it! It seems like Dhawan all the way as the Indian opener has a home average of 43.23 as compared to Watto’s 36.91. The difference of almost 7 doesn’t guarantee him anything more than 7 for the Aussie. The difference is becoming huge gradually and Watson is in dire need of pulling one back sooner than later. 

ROUND 4 -> AVERAGE IN NEUTRAL VENUES: Will the story change? Nah..

It is absolute madness as both the batsmen, who hover within 40s and 30s at home and away, take their game to another level at neutral venues, averaging over 50. That, however, doesn’t guarantee Watto to do well, as Dhawan is literally choking him up despite the Aussie’s best efforts. 

ROUND 5 -> AVERAGE IN MAJOR TOURNAMENTS: The hero of ICC events at it again

Dhawan is India’s man for big occasions and we all know his records in the ICC events, don’t we? To keep a single common denominator, we have only taken the ICC World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy, but the Indian soared with almost +18 average as compared to his Aussie counterpart. 

ROUND 6 -> STRIKE RATE: So close yet so far

Both Dhawan and Watson have been so incredible when it comes to big-hitting that I was really curious if Dhawan can still keep his juggernaut or will Watto finally disturb the shake? As it turned out, it was Dhawan all the way once again, with the Queensland boy looking at it from close quarters. Jeez, let me tell you, this is some insane hitting from Dhawan.

ROUND 7-> 50 TO 100 CONVERSIONS (in %): This is turning out to be real sad for Watto

Honestly speaking, unlike the previous rounds, I had no hope from Watson in this and Dhawan duly grounded him with a 50 to 100 conversion rate of 36.95 as compared to the Aussie’s 21.42. This pretty much sealed it, I guess.

Round 8 -> PERCENTAGE OF FIFTIES IN WINNING CAUSES: Should we bring an early end to the bout?

This is insane by Dhawan and now, Watson holds no chance, I mean, quite literally. 75.86% of the time Dhawan scores a fifty which results in a win but for Watson, the corresponding numbers stand at 69.69%. This was, once again, close but the game is already decided I guess. But kudos to Watson for not letting Dhawan go through easily. 

Round 9 -> PERCENTAGE OF HUNDREDS IN WINNING CAUSES: Finally Finally

Ahaha! Celebrate, dance and do all kinds of programmes, for Watson has drawn the first blood, that too by a whisker. When it comes to helping the team win with his century, Watson has a marginally better percentage (77.77%) than the Indian’s 76.47%. What a moment!

Round 10 - NO OF FIFTY PLUS SCORES IN SUCCESSFUL CHASES: Aha, that was a false dawn

Normalcy restored, ladies and gentlemen! Shikhar Dhawan, who has just lost a point, has returned to the winning ways in Round 10 and this bout is veering towards the obvious. Dhawan has a couple more 50-plus scores in successful chases as compared to Watto, who has 17.

Round 11 - AVERAGE IN H2H MATCHES: Watto will surely rue this bout

We all know Dhawan has a special liking against Australia, a team that has given him the most injuries yet some eye-catching success. In the 27 matches that he played against Australia, which is joint highest with West Indies, he has an average of 45.80, while the Queenslander has managed to score just 37.73 per dismissal against the Indians. 

Round 12 - STRIKE RATE IN SUCCESSFUL CHASES: One more close affair goes bonkers for the Aussie

So we are into the last round of the bout, with the game almost becoming a formality. The strike rate in successful chases has Shikhar Dhawan as the dominant force once again, with his SR of 97.41 being better than 93.6 dished out by Watson. So close yet so far.

FINAL SCORE: SHIKHAR DHAWAN - 119   SHANE WATSON - 100

This is probably the most competitive one-sided encounter I have ever seen. Like for real, man! There were only a couple of rounds in which the game was single-handedly decided but the rest had some insane fight from Watto. It was a shame there was an eventual 19-point difference between two mighty figures. This brings a wrap to the May 15 edition of Friday Fights and we really had all the fun. We shall be right back with another hopefully crazy battle next week, and till then, Sayonara!