Shikhar Dhawan joins Karnali Yaks for Nepal Premier League 2024

Former India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan has joined Karnali Yaks for the upcoming edition of Nepal Premier League (NPL) 2024. Organized by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the eight-team tournament will begin on November 30 and conclude on December 21.

Welcoming Dhawan, the franchise shared a special post on X that read:

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐫,𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐉𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐉𝐢,𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐘𝐚𝐤𝐬! 𝐌𝐫. 𝐈𝐂𝐂,𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧,𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞,𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐘𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐍𝐏𝐋.𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧-𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐏𝐋 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫—𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧!”

Meanwhile, NPL’s official handle wrote on X:

“Gabbar is here to run wild with the Yaks! A champion with countless records is ready to bring his international flair to Karnali Yaks!”

Shikhar Dhawan retired as one of the leading run-scorers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year. The left-handed batter amassed 6,769 runs in 222 matches, hitting two centuries and 51 fifties. The 38-year-old is only behind Virat Kohli (8,004 runs in 252 matches) in the most runs list.

In international cricket, Dhawan has represented India in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs, and 68 T20Is, scoring 10,867 runs across formats, including 24 tons and 55 half-centuries.

At Kranli Yaks, Dhawan will play alongside Pakistan’s Hussain Talat and West Indies batter Chadwick Walton.

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“I didn’t have that inspiration from inside to play that cricket” - Shikhar Dhawan on his retirement

Shikhar Dhawan in a recent interview explained why he retired from all forms of cricket. He told PTI (via Economics Times):

"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."

“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),” he added.

Dhawan was part of India’s 2013 Champions Trophy-winning team under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. He also represented the Men in Blue in 2015 and 2019 editions of the ODI World Cup.