Shikhar Dhawan on verge of hat-trick of centuries in Pakistan clash at Champions Trophy

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has thus far made the final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy his own. In the opening competitive fixture against South Africa on June 6, Dhawan smashed 114 at Cardiff. Five days later, versus West Indies at The Oval in London, Dhawan's unbeaten 102 took India in to the semifinals of the tournament.

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With the above-mentioned performances, Dhawan became the seventh batsman to notch back-to-back centuries in the Champions Trophy. Saeed Anwar and Sourav Ganguly achieved this feat in the 2000 edition of the tournament in Kenya. Herschelle Gibbs scored identical scores of 116 against Kenya and India respectively in 2002. Sri Lankan Upul Tharanga and West Indian Chris Gayle scored successive centuries in the 2006 edition, while Shane Watson smashed the English and New Zealand attacks in 2009.

In the inconsequential tie against Pakistan on Saturday, Dhawan hopes to go one further. He can become the first Indian batsman to post 3 successive centuries in one-day international cricket. Pakistani batsman Zaheer Abbas was the first to achieve this unique feat, when he scored 3 three-figure scores versus India in 1982-83. Ten years later another Pakistan batsman, Saeed Anwar, posted 3 successive centuries in ODIs against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively.

Herschelle Gibbs followed his two successive centuries in the 2002 Champions Trophy, with a 153 versus Bangladesh. Current South African ODI skipper AB de Villiers followed up a couple of unbeaten centuries versus India with a ton against the West Indies in 2010. With the form that Shikhar Dhawan is showcasing, one wouldn't bet against him joining the elite club.

Previously eight Indian batsman have scored two straight ODI centuries - Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Dhawan though has three centuries in his past three innings in international cricket. His two in the Champions Trophy were preceded by a century in the 3rd Test versus Australia earlier this year.

One of the main factors behind Dhawan's success can be attributed to his opening partner Rohit Sharma. The duo have put on century stands for the opening wicket in both Champions Trophy matches so far. Prior to Sharma and Dhawan, only seven opening combinations for India have recorded successive 100+ partnerships. Predictably Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in 6 of these instances - thrice with Virender Sehwag, twice with Sourav Ganguly and once with Ajay Jadeja.