Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan on Tuesday (March 23) made a strong return to the Indian team with a sparkling half-century in the ODI series opener against England at the MCA Stadium, Pune.

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Dhawan, who was dropped from the playing XI after the first T20I versus England, provided India with a solid platform as he added 64 runs for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma.

After Rohit’s dismissal on 28, Dhawan shared a 105-run stand for the second wicket with skipper Virat Kohli to put the hosts in a dominant position. In the process, the southpaw also hit his 31st half-century in the 50-over format.

While Mark Wood broke the partnership by removing Kohli on 56, Dhawan held the one end firmly. The left-hander was looking all set for his 18th ODI ton, but it wasn't meant to be as he pulled a short delivery from Ben Stokes straight to Eoin Morgan at mid-wicket and fell two runs short of the milestone.

He might have missed out on the century but Shikhar Dhawan impressed former India cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Irfan Pathan with his composed knock.

“It’s been his strongest format for a while now. And it seems he is getting better at it with every advancing year! Well played Shikhar Dhawan!,” Manjrekar tweeted.

“Well played shera @SDhawan25,” Pathan wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Dhawan’s wicket fell in the 39th over of India’s innings. His knock of 98 came in 106 deliveries and it was laced with 11 fours and 2 sixes.