When a player has not distanced himself from the game, he is playing, performing and says don’t give me a chance, now play him (Shubman Gill) in my place. It takes a lot of courage to say this, I mean think once, someone is saying that if I had got a chance, I would have chosen him (Gill) instead of myself. Showing such passion can be called a rarity in today’s era of cutthroat competition. This passion was expressed by Shikhar Dhawan in an interview, which shows that Gabbar’s heart used to beat for others more than his own people, he used to respect others.
Shikhar Dhawan has now announced his retirement from international cricket and domestic cricket, so it is necessary to talk about why Gabbar was special? Why was Shikhar called Mr. ICC, perfect team man, yaaron ka yaar? It was in March 2023, when he was asked whether he was really going to the top or down? Then Shikhar’s form had gone a bit wrong. The question was asked what would he say about Shubman Gill (then Shubman Gill had made his place as an opener, Shikhar Dhawan was out of the team)….
On this matter, he had praised Shubman Gill openly. He had said that if he were a selector, he would have selected Shubman Gill himself. The expressions that were visible on Shikhar Dhawan’s face during this time clearly showed one thing that he is really a team man. He is not thinking about himself at all but is putting Team India first.
Today (24 August 2024) when Shikhar retired, he also said one thing at the end, he said- I tell myself that don’t be sad that you will not play for your country again, but be happy that you played for your country and this is the biggest thing for me that I played…
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! 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/QKxRH55Lgx
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) August 24, 2024
Shikhar has been seen facing many family upheavals in the last few years. He got separated from his family, separated from his son Zoravar, got divorced, but whenever he appears on a public platform or gives an interview, he always has a positive smile on his face.
If any fan has watched IPL 2024, he would be well aware that Shikhar was participating in that tournament after separating from his family. When Kohli met Shikhar in the middle of the field, he understood Shikhar’s loneliness and hugged him. The same style was seen with Rohit, when Rohit met him in Mullanpur, both of them also danced together.
Dhawan has had a Delhi connection with Kohli from the beginning, so the two have had a strong relationship from the beginning. Rohit-Dhawan’s friendship grew with time. The Hitman himself has openly stated many times that his bonding with Shikhar was of a different level. Recently, Rohit himself said that he liked sitting in the bus with ‘Jatt ji’ (Shikhar) in the team. Dhawan himself admitted that we both played cricket together for 10 years and from there our friendship developed. Shikhar added 5193 runs with Rohit Sharma in ODIs from 2011 to 2022. Which is number 5 in the runs scored by any pair. Rohit even said that when Shikhar came back after playing the Under 19 tournament, he was his fan.
Why was Shikhar called Mr. ICC
Shikhar Dhawan was called Mr. ICC (International Cricket Council), which means that whenever he played in an ICC tournament, his style and appearance changed. Shikhar Dhawan scored 363 runs in 5 matches at an average of 90.75 during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. The Indian team won this tournament, while Dhawan became the Player of the Tournament.
During his career, Shikhar Dhawan scored 412 runs in the 2015 World Cup at an average of 51.50, which included two centuries. In the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, he scored 338 runs in 5 matches with 1 century and 2 half-centuries. Due to his performance, Team India reached the final and won the match.
In the 2019 World Cup, Dhawan scored 125 runs in 2 matches with a century. He scored a century against Australia. In that match, Dhawan injured his thumb on 25 runs. Despite this, he took medicine to reduce the pain. Due to this injury, Dhawan was out of the World Cup.
Impactful with the bat 💪
Memorable opening knocks 💯
And a pure smile on his face throughout 🤗𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙠𝙝𝙖𝙧 𝘿𝙝𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙣 🫡@SDhawan25 | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/U3ycf7GGvZ
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 24, 2024
His average in ICC 50-over tournaments (ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy) is 65.15 in 20 innings, where he scored six centuries and scored above 50 ten times. Among the 51 batsmen who have scored at least 1000 runs in these tournaments, he has the best average, slightly higher than Kohli’s 64.55. Dhawan averaged 53.70 in the World Cup (ten innings) and 77.88 in Champions Trophy matches (ten innings)..
That one and only record of Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan is the only Indian opener to score a century in all SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries in ODIs. 38-year-old Dhawan made his ODI debut for the Indian team on 20 October 2010 against Australia, where he was out at 0.
Then in 2011, he made his T20 debut against West Indies in Port of Spain under the captaincy of Suresh Raina. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan made such a record in his Test cricket debut against Australia, which remains intact till date.
Shikhar Dhawan holds the record for scoring the fastest century by a player making his debut in Test cricket. He scored 187 runs in 174 balls in his debut Test in 2013, his innings included 33 fours and 2 sixes. Dhawan also holds the record for scoring the most runs by an Indian in a Test debut.
Congratulations Shiki on a fantastic career! I know you will spread the same joy through everything you take up in the future! @SDhawan25 pic.twitter.com/yE3mQjKXj5
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) August 24, 2024
Dhawan put an end to his 13 year long career
Shikhar Dhawan has bid goodbye to his 13-year international career. Dhawan last played a competitive match in April this year while leading Punjab Kings in IPL 2024. He has scored 24 international centuries (17 in ODIs and seven in Tests) in 269 matches.
Dhawan was a great ODI player, as he is one of only eight batsmen in the history of this format to score more than 5000 runs at an average of over 40 and a strike rate of over 90 (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the other Indians on this list). He has not played for India since the ODI series against Bangladesh in December 2022. Dhawan played his last T20 International for India against Sri Lanka in Colombo on 29 July 2021. He played this match as captain. Dhawan’s last Test match was against England at the Oval in September 2018.
Shikhar Dhawan’s feats
- Player of the Tournament in U19 World Cup 2004
- champions trophy 2013 winner
- Most runs for India in Champions Trophy 2013
- Player of the Tournament in Champions Trophy 2013
- Most runs for India in Asia Cup 2014
- Most runs for India in World Cup 2015
- Most runs for India in Champions Trophy 2017
- Most runs for India in Nidaha Trophy 2018
- Most runs for India in Asia Cup 2018
- Player of the Tournament in Asia Cup 2018
- Only Indian opener to score ODI centuries in all SENA countries
- Highest average in ICC ODI tournament
International record of Shikhar Dhawan:
T20 International – 68 matches, 1759 runs, 27.92 average, 11 half-centuries
One Day International – 167 matches, 6793 runs, 44.11 average, 17 centuries and 39 half-centuries
Test cricket- 34 matches, 2315 runs, 40.61 average, 7 centuries and 5 half-centuries
IPL – 222 matches, 6769 runs, 35.26 average, 2 centuries and 51 half-centuries