India’s opening batsman and Champions Trophy winner Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from professional cricket both international and domestic through a social media post on Saturday morning. In the retirement video message he stated “As I close this chapter of my cricketing journey, I carry with me countless memories and gratitude. Thank you for the love and support! Jai Hind!”
Dhawan last donned the Indian jersey in an ODI against Bangladesh in 2022 and T20I in Sri Lanka in 2021. Dhawan has not been part of the Test team since 2018, after the England Tour.
From his thunderous arrival in Test cricket in Mohali against Australia in 2013, he scored 187 under the leadership of Dhoni, later in the career Shikhar found a permanent spot in India’s opening slot with Rohit Sharma for the first time, which helped the Team India in winning the Champions Trophy in 2013 in England. He was a leading run scorer in the tournament with 363 runs in the bank.
From where there was no looking back for Dhawan in 2015 World Cup, Dhawan scored 338 runs in five innings and one hundred. In the 2015 ODI World Cup, he was India’s top run-getter with 412 runs in eight matches and two hundreds. Overall, Dhawan has featured for India in 167 ODIs, scoring 6793 runs including 17 centuries and 39 half-centuries. His average in the format stands at 44.11 in test cricket, Dhawan’s career always known for his ICC tournaments performances back from under 19 World Cup to 2019 his big scores marked a significant badge on his career. His centuries in ICC World Cups and Champions Trophy stood out in One Day Cricket.
Dhawan’s career will always be remembered for his opening partnership with Rohit Sharma which they started with the white ball cricket from the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Both openers have 5148 partnership runs and are the fourth-highest among all opening pairs, next only to Ganguly-Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist-Matthew Hayden and Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes. It took only 140 - Innings by Dhawan to reach 6000 ODI runs which are the fifth fastest in World ODI Cricket.
The left hand opening batsman also had some low points in career in the 2019 World Cup after scoring a century against Australia in the Oval. He suffered a thumb injury which ruled him out from the World Cup which has been the talking point of India’s loss in Semi Finals.
Before becoming the Captain of Punjab Kings, Dhawan played for Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2013 to 2018. He was a crucial player for the Franchise along with David Warner and orange cap was awarded in 2017 IPL. He was later traded to Delhi Capitals before becoming the Captain of Punjab King’s franchise in 2022.
Dhawan’s retirement marks the end of an era for Indian Cricket. His aggressive batting style and his ability to dominate bowlers will surely be missed.
