Opener Shikhar Dhawan gestures to the dressing room after his hundred on Day One of the third India-Sri Lanka Test at Pallekele in Kandy on Saturday. Pic/AFP

They used to call him Gabbar, and Shikhar Dhawan was more than happy to play long, whether twirling his moustache elaborately or slapping his thigh wrestler style when celebrating milestones. In Kandy, when Dhawan reached his hundred on Day One of the third Test, the celebration was a different one: both hands making the V sign, held aloft above his head.