On Saturday, Shikhar Dhawan, India’s star opening batsman, declared that he would be retiring from playing international cricket.
In a video posted on social media (on Twitter), the southpaw revealed his decision to retire from international and domestic cricket after representing India in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is from 2010 to 2022.
“I had only one dream to play for my country and I lived it.I wish to thank all those who accompanied me along the way. My family primarily. My childhood coach Late Tarak Sinha, and Madan Sharma under whose guidance I learnt the basics of the game,” said Dhawan.
“I would also like to thank my team with whom I have played cricket for so long. I got another family; name, fame and love of every fan,” he added.
“There is a saying you need to turn the page to read the full story. That’s what I am going to do. As such, today marks my retirement from international as well as domestic cricket. When it comes time for me to hang up my boots I’ll be content because I’ve done a lot for my country.What else can one desire?” added southpaw while thanking BCCI and DDCA.“There are no words that can express how much love they showed me,” concluded Dhawan.
“To myself, I will say one thing: don’t be sad that you can no longer represent India but happy that you have represented India for such a long period. The biggest thing for me is that I played,” stated Shikhar Dhawan at last.
His debut came against Australia in Visakhapatnam in 2010 when he went on to score more than 10 thousand runs in an international career spanning over eleven years.
Over this period he has managed to register himself as one of the best opening batsmen ever produced by India having been able to get more than ten thousand runs across these formats.
Shikhar Dhawan was an integral part of the Indian side that won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 under Dhoni’s captaincy.
He topped the runs chart in the tournament managing 363 runs in 5 innings at an average of 90.75 with two hundreds and one fifty.
