Shikhar Dhawan announces retirement from international cricket: A look at his remarkable career

INDC Network : Sports (Cricket) : Shikhar Dhawan, one of the most successful white-ball openers of the Indian cricket team, has announced his retirement from international cricket. Dhawan, 38, said that even though he has said goodbye to international cricket, he will continue to play league cricket, especially the IPL. Dhawan's last international match was an ODI against Bangladesh in December 2022. In his 269-match career, Dhawan scored 10,867 runs, including 24 centuries and 44 half-centuries. Dhawan, who has been one of the key players of Indian cricket in the last decade, announced his retirement on Twitter and described the journey of his cricket career as memorable and full of gratitude.

Shikhar Dhawan's cricket career has been nothing less than an inspirational story. He was a late riser at the beginning of his career, making his ODI debut against Australia in 2010. However, his debut match was disappointing, in which he was dismissed for a two-ball duck. A year later, he played four more ODIs against the West Indies, scoring a total of 51 runs. But his career really took off during the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when he set a record for the fastest century by scoring a century off 85 balls on his Test debut. This explosive start also gave a new direction to his ODI career and he soon became the main opener of the Indian team.

The 2013 Champions Trophy saw the introduction of a new opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Dhawan performed brilliantly in this tournament and scored 363 runs, scoring consecutive centuries against South Africa and West Indies. This performance played an important role in India winning the Champions Trophy and Dhawan received the title of 'Player of the Tournament'. This performance of Dhawan was just the beginning, and he established himself as the 'Man for the Big Occasions' for India in ICC tournaments.

Dhawan once again proved his mettle in the 2015 World Cup. He scored 412 runs in eight matches at an average of 51.5 and his 137 against South Africa is considered one of the best innings of his career. Dhawan also dominated the 2017 Champions Trophy where he scored 338 runs. Along with Rohit Sharma, he formed one of India's most successful opening pairs in ODIs. After Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the Rohit and Dhawan duo scored 5148 runs in 115 innings, including 18 centuries. The pair became the fourth most successful ODI opening pair of all time.

However, Dhawan's career began to decline over time. Dhawan maintained his form in the 2019 World Cup but unfortunately had to pull out midway through the tournament due to a thumb fracture. This proved to be Dhawan's last ICC tournament. He played a memorable innings of 117 against Australia, but after that he was never as influential for the Indian team. Gradually, his strike-rate started dropping, which became a concern especially in T20Is. His last T20I match was in July 2021, in which his performance was satisfactory, but the management did not give him further opportunities.

Meanwhile, the rise of young players like Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan led to Dhawan gradually being left behind in the Indian ODI team. In 2022, Dhawan captained India in the West Indies and also played against South Africa and New Zealand. However, after Gill's brilliant performance, Dhawan was not only dropped from the World Cup plans, but his ODI career also came to an end. Dhawan shares the record of completing 1000 ODI runs with Virat Kohli and he also became the fastest Indian batsman to touch the 2000 and 3000 run marks.

Dhawan's Test career did not live up to expectations. He scored 2315 runs in 40 matches, but there were some great moments in his career. His 98 against New Zealand in Wellington in 2014, and his 190 against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2017 were some of the memorable moments of his career. However, Dhawan was dropped from the team after a difficult tour of England in 2018 and never returned to the Indian Test team.

Dhawan expressed 'surprise' at not being selected for the Asian Games in August 2023. Although he was hoping for a comeback, he eventually decided to retire from international cricket. Despite the ups and downs in his career, Dhawan's contribution to Indian cricket will remain unforgettable. His story of patience and struggle will remain a source of inspiration for upcoming players.