Shikhar Dhawan Turns 32, Sachin Tendulkar Has A Special Message

India opener Shikhar Dhawan ensured he left a mark on his birthday and he did so in style. He scored a gritty 67 on Day 4 of the ongoing India-Sri Lanka Test on Tuesday, when he turned 32. Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar posted a special message for the swashbuckling opener, extending birthday greetings to Dhawan on his official Twitter account.

"Happy birthday, @SDhawan25! May you continue to play as fearlessly as ever and don't forget to twirl that moustache while you're at it", he captioned.

Happy birthday, @SDhawan25! May you continue to play as fearlessly as ever and don't forget to twirl that moustache while you're at it. pic.twitter.com/zj4Z3ImqIT

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 5, 2017

Calling him 'Gabbar', teammate Suresh Raina also wished Dhawan. He posted a heartfelt message on his Twitter account.

"Happy birthday to the Gabbar of #TeamIndia Bahut yaarana lagta hai hahaha! @SDhawan25. Have a great one my friend! Hope you score a 100 on your big day and take India to a win!#INDvsSL", he captioned.

Janamdin mubarak ho mere veer nu @SDhawan25 lots of love brother.. keep shining on an off the field...rab Mehr Kare pic.twitter.com/epdYfp1NaE

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 5, 2017

Happy Birthday @SDhawan25. I am sure you're going to gift yourself lots of 100's and plenty of runs this year. Wishing you all success and happiness pic.twitter.com/olD1teQUgm

— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) December 5, 2017

Fastest debut Test century
Highest debut Test score for India
Fastest to 3,000 ODI runs for India
India's top scorer at #CWC15
Top scorer at #CT13 and #CT17

Happy Birthday to @SDhawan25! pic.twitter.com/WTlLklcwK7

— ICC (@ICC) December 5, 2017

Dhawan (67) top-scored for India in their second innings as the men in blue declared their innings at 246/5, setting a 410-run target for Sri Lanka.

After losing Murali Vijay in the third over, Dhawan steadied the hosts for a while but saw Ajinkya Rahane fall cheaply for 10 runs in the 14th over. However, he went on to reach his half-century and built a 77-run partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara.

Dhawan eventually got stumped by Lankan keeper Niroshan Dickwella off Lakshan Sandakan in the 36th over. Dhawan has a similar batting average (43.7) in both the Tests and ODIs format respectively. He made his Test debut in March 2013 against Australia in Punjab while he played his first ODI against the same opponents in 2010.

His performance in the ICC Champions Trophy in England showed his batting prowess in the 50-over format. With 338 runs in the tournament, Dhawan finished as the highest run-scorer in the eighth edition of the tournament.