Shikhar Dhawan Retirement: Know 'Gabbar's' Career Highlights And Stats

The former India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement through his official social media handles on Saturday, August 24. Dhawan started his international career with a duck against Australia in the T20Is but signed off as one of the greatest openers Indian cricket ever had.

Hyderabad: Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan hung up his boots as he bid adieu to an incredible career on Saturday. He announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket through a video post on his social media handles and thanked everyone who helped him in his journey.

Dhawan, who received his India cap in 2010, didn’t have a perfect beginning to his international career as he was dismissed on a second-ball duck against Australia in a T20I match. However, he came back with a fire in his eyes and came back stronger, becoming one of the greatest openers in Indian cricket and India's man of the moment in ICC tournaments. The left-handed batter accomplished several feats during his glorious career and played a pivotal role in India's victories in white-ball cricket.

Here's a look at the highlights of Dhawan's career, which includes a yet-to-be-broken record he made on his Test debut.

1. Dhawan holds the record for hitting the fastest century on a Test debut for India. He completed his maiden hundred on 85 balls. He ended up with 187 off just 174 balls against Australia in Mohali in 2013.
2. Dhawan also inked a record for registering the highest strike rate for any batsman during a century on debut in Tests with a strike rate of 107.47.
3. The left-handed opener was involved in a partnership of 289 with former Murali Vijay against Australia in Mohali in 2013, which remains a record for the highest partnership for the opening wicket in Tests involving India and Australia.
4. His best year in terms of run aggregate in ODIs was 2013, when he scored 1162 at an average of 50.52, including five hundred and four fifties, in 25 innings. He also won the Golden Bat for his exceptional performance.
5. The 39-year-old remains the only Indian player to post three centuries in ODIs at The Oval -- one each against West Indies in 2013, Sri Lanka in 2017 and Australia in 2019.
6. The Delhi Capitals opener is the first cricketer to score a back-to-back century in the Indian Premier League. He had racked up 101 off 58 balls against Chennai Super Kings and 106 off 61 balls against Punjab Kings in IPL 2020.
7. He hit 768 fours in 221 innings -- the most by a batter in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
8. His 6769 runs are the second-highest aggregate in the history of the IPL behind Virat Kohli's tally of 8004 runs.
9. Among the seven batters with 600 runs or more in the ICC Champions Trophy, Dhawan's average of 77.88 is the highest.
10. He is one of the four batsmen to have recorded three hundreds in the ICC Champions Trophy -- the other three being Chris Gayle, Sourav Ganguly and Herschelle Gibbs.
11. He is the only player to win back-to-back golden bats in ICC Champions Trophies in 2013 and 2017. He was the leading run-scorer in both editions, having amassed 363 and 338 runs in the 2013 and 2017 editions.