An icon of Indian cricket, Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from internationals and domestic formats with immediate effect on Saturday (August 24). The left-handed opening batter represented India in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is.
Dhawan, in a social media post, expressed his gratitude at being able to represent the country and thanked his childhood coaches Tarak Sinha and Madan Sharma, family members and teammates.
“I always had one goal in mind that was to play for India and I achieved it thanks to a lot of people. First of all my family, my childhood coaches Tarak Sinha and Madan Sharma, under their guidance, I learnt cricket.”
“Then my entire team with whom I played for years, got another family, fame and everyone’s love and support. As it’s said that to move ahead in the story you need to flip over the pages. Hence, I’m also doing that, I’m announcing my retirement from international and domestic cricket,” said Dhawan in the video.
“And now when I’m bidding adieu to my cricketing journey, I have the satisfaction that I played a lot for my country. I’m really thankful to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and DDCA (Delhi & District Cricket Association) for giving me this opportunity and all of my fans for their love and support.”
“I just say this to myself that don’t be sad that you won’t play for your country again but always be happy that you played for your country. And it’s the biggest achievement for me that I played,” he added.
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! 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/QKxRH55Lgx
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) August 24, 2024
Dhawan commenced his first game against Australia back in 2010 and went ahead to score for India 10,867 such runs to place him twelfth on that particular list. He has additionally played more than four hundred domestic matches for Delhi since 2004.
The significance of Shikhar Dhawan to India
A fine ton on his Test debut against Australia raised expectations of him becoming one of India’s best in the format for life. The southpaw’s true impact came however, when he played in limited-overs matches where his ICC tournaments performances brought out the best in him and it is largely believed that he had a World Cup average second only to that of god—54.00.
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