Shikhar Dhawan is an Indian cricketer who represents the country in international cricket. On the domestic level, Shikhar plays first-class cricket for Delhi. He is also the captain of the IPL franchise Punjab Kings.
Shikhar is a left-handed opening batsman and occasional right-arm off-break bowler. Shikhar is widely popular for his calm and composed yet aggressive style of batting, especially in ICC tournaments. At the 2015 ICC World Cup, Shikhar was the leading run scorer for India. Because of his iconic mustache, Shikhar has been nicknamed 'Gabbar' among teammates and his animated celebrations after taking a catch have been entertaining over the years.
Also see - Rohit Sharma Biography
Dhawan started his professional career with Delhi Under-16s in the 1999/00 Vijay Merchant Trophy. He was the leading run-scorer of the 2000/01 Vijay Merchant Trophy next year. These two incredible seasons paved his path for India ACC Under-17 Asia Cup. Averaging 85 in the Asia Cup from three games, Dhawan was subsequently drafted into the Delhi Under-19 team in October 2001, for the Cooch Behar Trophy, and then again in October 2002.
With brilliant performances, one over the other, Dhawan became the star of Indian Domestic cricket at a very early age. He then played for North Zone Under-19s, the CK Nayudu Trophy, Cooch Behar Trophy and even captained the Delhi Under-19 team. In the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, Dhawan finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with a total of 505 runs from seven innings
Dhawan made his first-class debut for Delhi in November 2004. Dhawan finished as Delhi's leading run-getter that Ranji season with a total of 461 runs from 6 matches. In 2005/06 Challenger Trophy in October 2005, Dhawan played for India B and had his first disappointing series in a long time. After that, Dhawan played for North Zone against Zimbabwe Cricket Union President's XI and for Board President's XI in a three-day match against the touring Sri Lankan team.
He also represented India A in the EurAsia Cricket Series in April–May 2006. Thel 2006-07 Ranji season was special for Dhawan for he was made captain of the Delhi team for the Ranji One-day Trophy in February 2007. Dhawan was a part of the victorious Delhi team who won the 2007–08 season. He then played exceptional cricket across tournaments till his career hit the rough patch in 2010 when India A was touring England. His poor form turned around in the limited-overs triangular series involving England Lions, India A and West Indies A where scored 166 runs from 4 innings at an average of 41.50 and a strike rate of 130.70.
He was then selected Rest of India squad against the defending Ranji champions Mumbai in the Irani Cup in October 2010. His performance in Irani Cup earned him a spot for India Blue in the Challengers Trophy, which was a bittersweet tournament for him. But it did earn him a national call-up. Following this Dhawan was in and out of Domestic cricket as he slowly started to become a national team regular.
He played Ranji for Delhi in the 2010–11 Ranji Trophy. It was a poor phase for Dhawan and he struggled with form in Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Deodhar Trophy. It continued in the West Indies, and Dhawan was unable to find a place in the Indian squad that toured England. But Dhawan redeemed himself with his domestic exploits. The 2012–13 Ranji season was probably Dhawan's last for the foreseeable future as he became an integral part of the national team. He still featured in Delhi's team whenever he got the time to play from his busy schedule.
Shikhar debuted in the IPL with Delhi Daredevils in 2008. He made 4 half-centuries and was the third-highest scorer for the team. However, the management decided to trade him to the Mumbai Indians for Ashish Nehra. He has played for Mumbai Indians in the next two seasons of the IPL. Dhawan was bought by Deccan Chargers for $300,000 in the fourth season.
Dhawan was appointed captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team before the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 tournament. But he was replaced by Darren Sammy as captain in the 2014 edition of the Indian Premier League. The 2015 season of the Indian Premier League was disastrous for both Dhawan and the Sunrisers. They, however, bounced back to win the tournament in 2016. Dhawan was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2017 Indian Premier League.
Dhawan was bought in the 2018 IPL Auction, he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹ 5.2 crores using their RTM (right to match) card. Dhawan was once again traded to Delhi Capitals for the 2019 season. He was the leading run-scorer of the Capitals in three consecutive seasons (2019-2021) with 521 runs in 2019, 618 runs in 2020, and 587 runs in 2021.
In IPL 2021, Dhawan became the first player in the history of the league to hit consecutive centuries - 101 vs CSK in Sharjah and 106 vs PBKS in Dubai. Despite his consistency with the bat, the left-handed batter was released by the Capitals ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction. He was bought by Punjab Kings in the auction for INR 8.25 crore.
Dhawan became only the second player in IPL after Virat Kohli to amass 6000 runs in IPL 2022. He finished as Punjab's leading scorer with the bat - 460 runs in 14 matches. Dhawan replaced Mayank Agarwal as captain of Punjab Kings for IPL 2023.
Dhawan made his first international selection in October 2010, for a three-match ODI series against Australia. Dhawan made his international debut in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam on 20 October. Dhawan had a disastrous debut as he was bowled off the second by Clint McKay. Dhawan's ODI career didn't kick off even in his second series of the career which was against the West Indies.
Dhawan played his 100th ODI against South Africa team, and also scored his 13th ODI century. By doing so, Dhawan became the first batsman for India to score a century in his 100th ODI. Dhawan started opening the Indian innings with Rohit Sharma in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, and the gamble turned out to be a huge success. Dhawan's opening partnership with Rohit Sharma is the second most successful opening partnership for India after Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.
Dhawan was part of India's squad in the 2015 World Cup in Australia. He scored 73 against Pakistan in the opening encounter and followed it with 137 against South Africa at the MCG. His century helped India to beat South Africa for the first time in the 50-over World Cup. Dhawan hit his second century of the tournament against Ireland, scoring 100 in a 260-run chase.
The southpaw finished as India's highest run-getter in the 2015 World Cup with 412 runs in eight games at an average of 51.50. He scored 338 runs in five matches of the 2017 Champions Trophy at an average of 67.60 and became the first player to win two golden bats in the tournament.
Dhawan was also the leading run-scorer of the Asia Cup 2018 (342) as India won its seventh continental tournament and that too in the absence of Virat Kohli. During his 117-run innings against Australia at the Kia Oval in the 2019 World Cup, the Indian opener fractured his right thumb and was subsequently ruled out of the marquee event.
Dhawan was named India's white-ball skipper for the Sri Lanka tour in 2021 as the core players were simultaneously preparing for the Test series against England in England. In the Sri Lanka tour, Dhawan became the second-fastest Indian and fifth overall player to record 6000 runs in ODIs. Under Dhawan's captaincy, India whitewash West Indies 3-0 (August 2022) and defeated South Africa 2-1 (October 2022).
Dhawan holds the record for the fastest 2000 and 3000 runs by an Indian batter in 48 and 72 innings respectively.
Dhawan made his T20I debut in June 2011 against West Indies on 4 June at Port of Spain. He opened the innings and was dismissed for an 11-ball 5. But Dhawan has come a long way as far as T20 cricket is concerned. In 2018, Dhawan scored the most runs in T20Is by any cricketer. He scored 689 runs in the calendar year.
Dhawan was in India's mix for T20Is until July 2021 when he led them in Sri Lanka but was shockingly dropped from the 2021 T20 World Cup squad and never played a game thereafter. He scored 1759 runs in 66 T20I innings at a strike rate of 126.36 with the help of 11 fifties with 92 being his best score in the shortest format of international cricket.
Dhawan made it to the Indian Test squad in February 2013 for the four-match series against Australia. Dhawan took over Sehwag from the third Test and made at Mohali on 14 March. Dhawan scored the fastest century by any batsman on his Test debut.
He reached the milestone in just 85 balls. Dhawan was finally dismissed for 187. Dhawan did not bat in India's second innings as he suffered a hand injury while fielding during the fourth day. The injury later turned out to be a fracture in his left hand which didn't allow him to play the fourth Test at Delhi and ruled him out for six weeks.
On 14 June 2018, against Afghanistan cricket team, Dhawan became the only Indian and sixth overall batsman to have scored a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match. Dhawan had a dismal tour of England in the same year as India lost 1-4 and the opener managed just 162 runs in eight innings at an average of 20.25. It was his last series in the whites for India. Dhawan amassed 2315 runs in 58 innings at 40.61, including five fifties and seven centuries.
Shikhar Dhawan was born on 5 December 1985 in Delhi. His parents were Sunaina and Mahendra Pal Dhawan. He was schooled at St. Mark's Senior Secondary Public School in Paschim Vihar, Delhi. In 2012, Dhawan married Ayesha Mukherjee. The couple dated for four years before tying the knot. Ayesha was from Melbourne and was an amateur boxer. The couple was introduced to each other by the Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh. Ayesha was a mother of two daughters from her previous marriage. In early 2014, the couple gave birth to a son. The pair filed for divorce in September 2021 with the specific reasons not mentioned.
