One of the finest Indian openers, Shikhar Dhawan, has finally announced his retirement from the international circuit. He played 269 matches for the Indian team.
Through a video he stepped down from the blue jersey and said, “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. I am leaving with peace in my heart that I played for so long for India. I tell myself not to feel sad that you will not play for India anymore, but to feel happy that you played for your country.”
Dhawan made his debut against Australia in the ODI series in 2010. He was last seen against Bangladesh in 2022 in ODI. He has shown many brilliant knocks with the bat. In his international career, he played 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20s. He scored 2315 runs in tests which includes 7 centuries and 5 half-centuries with an average of 40.61. In ODIs he has 6793 runs in which 17 centuries and 39 half-centuries were there and has an average of 44.11. Whereas in T20s, he has 1759 runs in which 11 half-centuries were included with an average of 27.92.
The year 2013 has been most successful for him as he was awarded with Player of the tournament in the 2013 Champions Trophy as he scored 363 runs in 5 innings in which 2 centuries were included. He got over 1000 runs in ODI in that year, averaging over 50.
Not only this, he was the highest scorer in 2014 Asia Cup, 2015 ODI World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy and 2018 Asia Cup from the side.
The turning point of his career was he got injured during the 2019 ODI World Cup where he was ruled out from the middle of the tournament due to the thumb injury. Before that he scored a brilliant century against Australia that ultimately took the match for his team. After that when he recovered and made a comeback it made it a little difficult for him to be consistent due to which he was in and out from the team quite many times.
He also faced disturbances in his personal relationship as he went through a rough patch with his wife in that period. He faced many challenges to meet his son and after a long battle with his wife in the court, he was relieved as the decision went in his favor.
Currently he is active in IPL, where he is the captain of Punjab Kings (PBKS). He played for many teams earlier which includes – Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was in Sunrisers Hyderabad when the team won the championship in 2016, under the leadership of David Warner.