Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket on Saturday. The left-handed batter took to social media to post a video message where he announced his decision and thanks both fans and associations for their love and support. Dhawan last played for India back in 2022 during the ODI series against Bangladesh. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Dhawan opened up about his decision to retire and said that although it was not tough for him, the decision was quite emotional.

“Not tough, but it is emotional, yes — but not in the sense of me being sad about it. I feel the emotion of gratitude and love. I have given half of my waking life to cricket, and it’s time now to retire, or rather, give ‘vishraam’ to it. I’m totally enjoying relaxing and spending time at home,” Dhawan told Hindustan Times.

Dhawan also said that retirement will not mean that he will lose his fame and even added that he is inside the hearts of his fans even if he is not playing cricket.

“Why will I lose fame if I give up cricket? Who knows, the fame might increase also. Main logon ke dilon mein basa hua hoon. Not only through cricket…sometimes even through my Instagram reels (laughs). I’m definite that the love I get from people will continue to grow,” he added.

A product of Sonnet Club and a fighter from West Delhi, Dhawan appeared in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is for India but had fallen out of favour in the last couple of years due to patchy form and emergence of younger opening talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

His best came in the 50-over format in which he amassed 6793 runs at an average of 44.11, including 17 hundreds and 39 fifties. He averaged 40.61 for his 2315 Test runs, which featured seven centuries.

(With PTI inputs)