'I Am At Peace': Shikhar Dhawan Retires a 'Happy Man' After Living His India Dream For Over a Decade

Shikhar Dhawan is a happy man and he was one when playing cricket – whether for India or his domestic team Delhi or for the various IPL franchises he represented over the years. On the field, he was 100 per cent committed – with the bat or when taking those long strides to take a catch or to save a single or a boundary. He was known for his jovial nature. His celebrations as entertaining as his performances.

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His retirement announces was true to his nature. No regrets, no complaints. And delivered with a beaming smile. The ‘biggest thing’ for Dhawan was playing for his country and he lived his dream for several years. Now that the team has moved on and looking ahead into the future, the star opener has decided to step away into the sunset and kickstart the next phase of his life.

His career will be remembered for a lot of things. His flowing cover drives, pull shots, strokeful centuries and an uncanny ability to step up in ICC tournaments.

Truly, Dhawan will be remembered as one of the finest ODI batters to have represented India.

Here’s his retirement announcement in full

“I am standing at a point in my life where when I look back, I see only memories, and when I look ahead, I see a new world. I had just one goal in life, to play for India, and I made it happen. It’s important to turn the page to move forward in life and that’s why I am announcing my retirement from international and domestic cricket. As I bid goodbye to my cricket journey, I have peace in my heart that I played for so long.

“I am very thankful to DDCA (Delhi and Districts Cricket Association), the BCCI and my fans. And that’s why I tell myself, don’t be sad that you won’t play for India again but be happy that you played for your country. And that’s the biggest thing for me, that I played.

“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.

“I just say this to myself that don’t be sad that you won’t play for your country again but always be happy that you played for your country. And it’s the biggest achievement for me that I played.”

Google Searches for Shikhar Dhawan

Google searches for Shikhar Dhawan started rising at 7:35am, moments after the cricketer announced his retirement on social media. Google Trends showed an upward graph for searches on ‘Shikhar Dhawan’, peaking at 9:13am and again at 9:19am, followed by two more highs at 9:38am and 9:46am.

By 10:30am, most searches had come from Delhi, followed by Odisha, West Bengal, Chandigarh and Maharashtra. While his domestic team was Delhi, Dhawan has been captaining the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2023.

The top related search query naturally was ‘Shikhar Dhawan retirement’, followed by interest in his age and IPL career.