Shikhar

Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan Biography and Career

Shikhar Dhawan is a former Indian cricketer who retired from the game as one of the best ODI batsmen of all time and a big tournament giant. A top-order dasher, Dhawan used to bring out his best in ICC ODI and Champions Trophy events, and was a major reason behind India’s success for close to 15 years.

Dhawan was born on 5 December 1985 in Delhi in a Punjabi family. He took an interest in cricket from a young age. At the age of 12, he joined the famous Sonnet Cricket Club and under the watchful eyes of Tarak Sinha, he started his journey. Dhawan began as a wicket-keeper but soon became a proper top-order batsman.

By the sheer weight of runs in Delhi’s Under-16, Under-19 tournaments, and the Cooch Behar Trophy, Dhawan made his presence felt. He was picked for the 2004 Under-19 World Cup where he finished as the top run-getter with 505 runs at an average of 84.16 with three centuries and a half-century. The visuals of a beaming Dhawan wearing a floppy hat and scoring runs by the kilo became quite the picture.

He was soon drafted into the Delhi Ranji Trophy squad for the 2004 season and smashed his maiden century at just 19. Dhawan was a regular member in India A sides, and the North Zone setup but the senior call took a while to arrive.

There were a few inconsistent seasons, and the others pipped Dhawan into the opening role across formats. But the narrative soon changed. He made his ODI debut in 2010 against Australia and his T20I debut came in 2011, but it was in the Test arena where he arrived with a bang.

Dhawan smashed an incredible 187 on debut against Australia in Mohali. It was the fastest century by any batsman on Test debut. He was named player of the match for his breathtaking performance and won many accolades for the knock.

In the mould of Virender Sehwag, Dhawan threw punches from the get-go irrespective of the format of the game he was playing. In the 2013 Champions Trophy, Dhawan found a new batting partner in Rohit Sharma and thus began the start of one of the most successful opening partnerships in the history of  ODI cricket.

The year 2013 was Dhawan’s through and through. Batting first in a List A game, he thrashed 248 off just 150 balls, which remains the fifth highest List A score ever. He then ended the 2013 Champions Trophy as the highest run-scorer with 363 runs in five innings at an average of 90.75 as India won the title in an electrifying final against England.

Then in the 2015 ODI World Cup, Dhawan was India’s highest run-scorer taking his team to the semi-final. In the 2017 Champions Trophy, Dhawan once again topped the runs charts finishing with 338 runs in five innings as India made it to the final. In the 2019 ODI World Cup, Dhawan smashed a century with a broken finger against Australia.

Dhawan has always been known as a big match player, but consistency has been an issue for him. While his Test career ended at 34 matches, with seven centuries and five fifties, he had a very successful ODI career. He played 167 matches and amassed 6793 runs with 49 fifties and 17 hundreds.

Dhawan retired from all formats of the game in August 2024 after he was out of the Indian team for a while.

Dhawan in the IPL

The IPL came at the right time for Dhawan, who was just blossoming when the tournament started in 2008. He began his career with his home franchise of Delhi Daredevils and despite the team studded with superstars, he finished the first season as their third-highest run-getter.

Despite the stellar season, he was let go by Delhi and moved to Mumbai Indians the next year. There he had a torrid time and was released after the 2010 season. He played two seasons with the now-defunct Deccan Chargers side before moving to Sunrisers Hyderabad, a move which transformed his career.  He was with SRH for six seasons and played a key role in helping them win IPL 2016.

In 2019, Dhawan moved back to Delhi and was super successful once more. In the 2020 IPL, he became the first batsman to score back-to-back centuries in the tournament. He was the first player picked at the 2022 IPL mega auction with Punjab Kings bidding for him. He stayed there till the end of his career and also captained the side in IPL 2023 and 2024.

Dhawan finished his IPL career as the second-highest run-scorer in the league. He has also hit the most fours in the tournament. Dhawan was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in recognition for his outstanding achievement in sports in 2021.

Beyond Cricket

Dhawan has quite a flamboyant personality and that vibrant attitude is visible on the ground as well. He made the thigh slap celebration quite famous and is known for always being jovial and happy on the field.

Dhawan has also amassed a lot of social media following. He regularly posts reels on Instagram where he has 19 million followers, while on Twitter he has more than 7 million followers. He is a very close friend of Virat Kohli, and the duo have played cricket together almost all their lives.

Dhawan is a brand favourite and has endorsed a number of brands in the past which include FinKeda, Eurosport India, QUE, CREX, Flipkart, TagZ foods, MotoGP, boat, and Canara Robeco among others.

In 2008, Dhawan got engaged to Aesha Mukerji, a Melbourne-based kickboxer. They married in 2012. Mukerji was 12 years older than Dhawan and also had two daughters from a previous marriage. The couple together have a son Zoravar. However, in 2023, Dhawan was granted a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty.

Records 

Shikhar Dhawan Domestic Records

• Dhawan is second on the list for the most runs scored at a single Under-19 World Cup. In 2004, he amassed 505 runs in seven innings
• He won the player of the tournament award in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup
• He holds the record for the fifth highest List A score of all time - 248 against South Africa in Pretoria in 2013

Shikhar Dhawan ODI Records

• Dhawan is the quickest batsman to reach 1000 runs in ICC ODI tournaments
• His batting average of 65.15 in ICC World Cups and Champion Trophies is the  highest among batsmen who have recorded at least 1000 runs 
• He is the only batsman to have won two player of the tournament awards in the Champions Trophy. He won the awards in back-to-back tournaments in 2013 and 2017
• Dhawan is the first Indian batsman to score a century in his 100th ODI
• No other Indian batsman had more runs after 100 ODIs than Dhawan
• He was the leading run-scorer in the Champions Trophy 2013 and 2017 and the highest run-scorer for India in the 2015 ODI World Cup
• Dhawan forged 18 century partnerships with Rohit Sharma in ODIs, which is the second-highest for any pair in ODIs
• He is the fifth-fastest to 6000 ODI runs, reaching there in 140 innings

 Shikhar Dhawan Test Records

• Dhawan holds the record for the fastest century by any batsman on Test debut
• His 187 is the highest for any Indian batsman on Test debut
• He is the first Indian batsman to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match

Shikhar Dhawan IPL Records

• Dhawan is second on the list of all-time run-scorers in the IPL with 6769 runs
• He has smashed 768 fours in the IPL which is the most for any batsman in the tournament 
• Dhawan has scored 500 runs or more in five seasons of the IPL
• He holds the record for the second-most runs for SRH and fifth-most runs for Delhi Capitals
• Dhawan was the first batsman to record back-to-back centuries in the IPL
• He has the third-most fifties in IPL history

Shikhar Dhawan other international records

• Dhawan had the most number of centuries in the calendar year 2013
• He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2013