Shikhar Dhawan announces retirement from international and domestic cricket

Shikhar Dhawan, one of India’s finest white-ball openers, has announced his retirement from international cricket. Dhawan, 38, clarified that although he’s walking away from India colours, he hinted at continuing in league cricket – most prominently the IPL.

Dhawan, who last played for India in December of 2022 in an ODI against Bangladesh, goes out having scored 10,867 runs from 269 appearances, including 24 centuries, 44 fifties and as one of the lynchpins of Indian batting over the last decade.

“It’s not like it is a tough decision for me. I am not even emotional. I don’t want to cry or something. But mostly it’s gratitude and love. I have spent most of my life playing cricket and I feel I’ve reached a stage where I want to rest now – from international and domestic,” Dhawan told Hindustan Times in an exclusive chat.

Dhawan, a late bloomer, made his India debut in 2010 during an ODI against Australia where he fell for a two-ball duck. A year later he represented India in four more ODIs against the West Indies, scoring a highest of 51. However, it wasn’t until the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia that Dhawan arrived, scoring the fastest century on debut – off 85 balls.

“My Test debut is my personal favourite. I came into the team and made that record. I scored 187. I always used to dream of playing for India and making world records. I wasn’t even aware of the world record. I was just happy to cement my place in the Test team,” said Dhawan.

Dhawan’s explosive start in Tests paved the way for his ODI recall. In the 2013 Champions Trophy, MS Dhoni unleashed a brand-new opening pair of Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Dhawan scored consecutive centuries against South Africa and West Indies, and the rest… as they say… is history. Dhawan went on to score 363 runs and won the Player of the Tournament as India won the title for the first time.

Dhawan established himself India’s man for ICC tournaments. He became India’s highest scorer at the 2015 World Cup with 412 runs from eight matches at an average of 51.5 and his hundred against South Africa – a rollicking knock of 137 is widely acknowledged as one of the best innings of his career. Dhawan went on an unstoppable march, pummeling 338 more runs at the 2017 Champions Trophy as well. Together with Rohit, Dhawan formed India’s second-most successful opening pair in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. In fact, Rohit and Dhawan’s 5148 runs from 115 innings, at an average of 45.55 with 18 centuries makes for the fourth-highest opening duo of all time.

How Dhawan got left behind in the pecking order

Dhawan continued the same form at the 2019 World Cup, before a fractured thumb unfortunately ruled him out. It turned out to be Dhawan’s final ICC tournament, but he didn’t go out quietly. His 117 against Australia was a knock for the ages as he played along in pain. It was also Dhawan’s last century for India. He came close with scores of 98 against England and 97 against West Indies, but never got to another three-figure score. With time, Dhawan’s dipping strike-rate became a cause of concern, especially in T20Is. He played his last T20I in July of 2021, and although his run of scores wasn’t bad, comprising 52, 52, 46 and 40 in the last seven innings, the management decided to move on from him. In IPL 2020 and 2021, Dhawan burned up the charts with 618 and 587 runs respectively, but it wasn’t enough to earn him a place back in India’s T20I setup.

As Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan’s stocks skyrocketed in ODIs, Dhawan gradually faded. In 2022, he captained India in the West Indies and played in series against South Africa and New Zealand at home. However, Gill’s outstanding season not only pushed Dhawan out of the World Cup plans but also marked the end of his road in ODIs. He was the joint-fastest Indian, along with Virat Kohli, to complete 1000 ODI runs and quickest to the 2000 and 3000-run mark.

Dhawan’s Test career didn’t quite pan out the way many imagined – 2315 runs from 40 matches – after that explosive start in Mohali. But it had its moments. As India embarked on a tough tour of New Zealand in 2014, Dhawan scored gritty and chanceless 98 in the seaming and swinging conditions of Wellington. He took a particular liking to the Sri Lankan bowling attack, scoring three out of his career’s seven centuries against them, including a mammoth 190 in Galle, 2017. However, the following year, Dhawan endured a tough tour of England, and after managing 162 runs from eight innings, he was dropped and never played a Test again for India.

In August 2023, although Dhawan had been out of reckoning, he expressed ‘shock’ at not being picked in India’s squad for the Asian Games. Despite harbouring aspirations of a comeback, time and again Dhawan would drop hints that his time the Indian team is up, often admitting it with a smile.