Kolkata : India’s former prolific opener Shikhar Dhawan has announced retirement from all forms of Cricket on August 24.
Dhawan posted the news in his social media account saying, “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!”.
“It’s important to turn the page to move forward in life and that’s why I am announcing my retirement from international and domestic cricket. As I bid goodbye to my cricket journey, I have peace in my heart that I played for so long”, he added.
Acknowledging DDCA, BCCI, his fans he concluded, “I am very thankful to DDCA (Delhi and Districts Cricket Association), the BCCI and my fans. And that’s why I tell myself, don’t be sad that you won’t play for India again but be happy that you played for your country. And that’s the biggest thing for me, that I played”.
Along with these, in a video, he also thanked his teammates, childhood coaches Tarak Sinha and Madan Sharma too.
“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 coach 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.” “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,” Dhawan added in the video.
Dhawan has been a prolific opener for India for a long time. He played 34 Tests, 167 ODIs & 68 T20Is, scoring 2315, 6793 & 1759 runs respectively.
He was a crucial part of India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2013 victory, having won the Golden Bat award too. Dhawan always has been main player of India along with Virat Kohli in ICC events as he used to score piles of runs in those events. He and Rohit Sharma made an iconic opening pair for Indian Cricket.
Dhawan was also a vital part in winning 2016,2018 Asia Cup campaigns.
He last featured for India international in 2022 Bangladesh tour. In last couple of years in his Cricket career, his form faded and rise of young talents like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, etc replaced him well.
In IPL he played for Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals & Punjab Kings.
Dhawan scored 6768 runs in 222 IPL matches & was crucial part of Sunrisers Hyderabad in their 2016 IPL winning campaign.
In last IPL, he captained Punjab Kings but played just 5 matches owing to injury.
His contributions to Cricket can never be forgotten.
