'You take up...,' India coach Gautam Gambhir shares heartfelt post for Shikhar Dhawan on retirement
Shikhar Dhawan recalls hilarious incident of when he got his first tattoo
India batter Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket on Saturday (June 24) as one of the finest openers especially in limited overs. India coach Gautam Gambhir posted a heartfelt message of the batter on social media platform X.
"Congratulations Shiki on a fantastic career! I know you will spread the same joy through everything you take up in the future!," wrote Gambhir.
It is to be noted that both Gambhir and Dhawan played domestic cricket for Delhi with Gambhir being the senior player.
Dhawan made his India debut in 2010 during an ODI against Australia and went on to play 167 matches, scoring 6,793 runs at an average of 44 with 17 hundreds and 39 fifties.
He made a formidable partnership with Rohit Sharma at the top and the duo had 18 centuries stands for India in ODIs - the second most after Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. They also added 5,148 runs as a pair - the fourth most in the history.
In Tests, Dhawan arrived in style - hitting the fastest ton on debut three years after his ODI debut - in 2013 against Australia. The left-hander played his last game in India jersey back in 2022 against Bangladesh.
“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. As it’s said that to move ahead in the story you need to flip over the pages. Hence, I’m also doing that, I’m announcing my retirement from international and domestic cricket," said Dhawan in the video.
