The reason behind Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya's "V sign" celebration

What's the story?

Hardik Pandya scored his maiden Test century in the first session of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka in Pallekele and the celebration that followed was nothing less than spectacular.

After Hardik hit the ball along the ground, he made it to the striker's end after completing two runs, opened his arms with his bat and helmet on the ground and signalled a "V sign" with both his hands towards the dressing room.

On day one of the same Test, opener Shikhar Dhawan celebrated his century in a similar manner by showing a V sign with both his hands towards the dressing room. When asked about the celebration, Dhawan said that it was a message to the boys who had given him a new nick name but the dasher didn't reveal what that name was.

In case you didn't know...

Hardik Pandya scored his first first-class century in the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka. He came out to bat after the fall of R Ashwin's wicket at the fag end of the day of day 1. He was unbeaten on 1 when the play came to an end and looked good at the start of day 2.

After the fall of Saha, he was defending with authority and batted really well with the tail. After reaching his fifty off 61 balls, he took on the Sri Lankan bowlers. With the no.11 batsman Umesh Yadav at the other end, he shifted gears and started clearing the ground with ease.

He hit two fours and three sixes off one Malinda Pushpakumara over and raced to his century off just 86 balls. He eventually got out right after lunch for 108 off 96 balls with eight fours and seven sixes.

Details

After choosing to bat first in the third Test, India were bundled out for 487 in their first innings, thanks to centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya and a useful fifty by KL Rahul.

When Pandya reached his fifty, he made a similar gesture to the dressing room and Rahul responded with the same gesture.

Dhawan took to Instagram after the end of day 1 and posted a picture of his celebration and tagged both Hardik and Rahul and referred it to something that they were discussing the previous night.

Video

Power packed century Power packed celebrationsPower packed reception back in the dressing room Power Pandya!@hardikpandya7 ?? #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/j8VzpMv9rC

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 13, 2017

Author's take

Without a doubt, both Dhawan and Hardik made the celebration famous and now, almost all the Indian fans are eager to know what's going on in the team. Things like these always help the players maintain a great bond among them and keep them going in the dressing room.

Talking about Hardik's knock, the all-rounder showed why he is considered as a big asset by skipper Virat Kohli. If he continues to bat like this and somehow manages to contribute with the ball, he could be the answer to India's search for a complete all-rounder who can bring balance to the team.