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Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan revealed that he lacked the "inspiration" to pursue the domestic cricket route in hopes of reclaiming his place in the national side, which ultimately led to his decision to retire from the game last month. Dhawan has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
The 38-year-old Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket in late August. During his career from 2013 to 2022, he played 34 Tests, 167 ODIs, and 68 T20Is for India.
"I didn't want to play domestic cricket, which I started playing at the age of 18 or 19 and I didn't have that inspiration from inside to play that (form of) cricket," Dhawan told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket, an event for retired cricketers that he signed up for after calling it quits from the game internationally.
Dhawan became India’s 25th ODI captain during a match against Sri Lanka in June 2021, stepping in for Rohit Sharma. He led the team in 12 matches, achieving seven wins and three losses.
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However, ahead of the ODI World Cup last year, he had to make way for the younger Shubman Gill. Dhawan's last international appearance for India came in December 2022, marking the end of a notable chapter in his career.
"If I look back, the last two years of my cricketing career, I wasn't playing much of international cricket and I was playing IPL to IPL, so I wasn't playing much of cricket (overall)," said the big-hitting opener.
Dhawan is an IPL bonafide legend, he played 222 matches and scored 6,769 runs including two centuries and 51 half-centuries. His remarkable tally of 768 fours is the highest by any batter in IPL history, and he also holds the distinction of being the first player to score consecutive hundreds in the tournament.
"I thought that, 'alright, I've played enough, and I need to give it a break because I'm not playing that much cricket, so you lose the touch as well," he said as he opened about his mindset before announcing the big decision.
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