Gautam Gambhir reacts to Shikhar Dhawan's retirement, Team India stars Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer send heartfelt wishes

Shikhar Dhawan has announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket through a social media post on Saturday morning. Dhawan's last competitive game was in April, leading Punjab Kings in IPL 2024. He retires with 24 hundreds (17 in ODIs and seven in Tests) across 269 international matches.

"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," Dhawan said in a video message. "I am leaving with peace in my heart that I played for so long for India. I tell myself not to feel sad that you will not play for India anymore, but to feel happy that you played for your country."

Dhawan, who made his India debut in 2010, retires as one of only eight ODI batters with over 5000 runs at a 40-plus average and a 90-plus strike rate (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the other Indians in the list). In all, he scored 6793 runs in 167 ODIs at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 91.35. His last ODI was against Bangladesh in Chattogram in December 2022.

Dhawan's ODI numbers towered over his records in the other two formats, even though it was in Tests when he first burst onto the scene with an 85-ball hundred against Australia in Mohali in 2013, the fastest by a debutant. He went on to make 187 in a match-winning effort.

Dhawan's career hit the high notes in 2013. That year, he made 1162 runs in 26 ODIs at an average of 50.52 and a strike rate of 97.89. The icing on the cake was his chart-topping 363 runs in five innings, including two centuries, in India's title-winning run at the Champions Trophy, which was his first ODI series after five forgettable outings across 2010 and 2011.

That tournament was the start of a glorious opening partnership with Rohit. In terms of run aggregates, the pair is the fourth-best among ODI openers, and their 18 century stands at the top are second only to Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly's 21.