Before the ‘Ro-Ko’ mania gripped Indian cricket, especially during the victorious 2024 ICC T20 World Cup campaign in the Americas, and even before the emergence of the Shubman Gills and Yashasvi Jaiswals into the scene, there was one white-ball specialist that the nation banked on during major ICC tournaments — Shikhar Dhawan — who developed a penchant for big scoring in big-ticket tournaments.

From starting his India career in 2010 with a duck, to finally walking into the sunset as one of the country’s most prolific white-ball batters, Dhawan left a legacy of his own when he announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket in an emotional social media post on Saturday.

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“I am standing at that juncture in my life where I can only see the past memories. My dream was always to play for India and it came true and for that I’m grateful to a lot of people. My family, my coaches Tarak Sinha and Madan Sharma, under whom I learnt to play cricket. Also my team, the people I played with for years. I got another family in them. I got fame and fortune and the love of everyone,” he said.

“But 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. And now that I’m concluding my cricket journey, there’s peace in my heart, that I played a lot for my country. I’m grateful to all my fans for all the love. I’ve told myself don’t feel sad that you won’t play for India anymore, but feel happy that you played for the country,” he added.

A part of India’s batting trinity alongside Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Dhawan established himself as a formidable force in the Indian top order during a career spanning over 12 years with him featuring in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is, scoring 10,867 runs. Over the years, the southpaw rose to become India’s go-to player in ICC tournaments and left the legacy of Shikhar ‘The-One’.

Dhawan burst onto the international scene in the 2004 ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup where he scored over 500 runs, including three centuries. Six years later he made his India debut in 2010 in an ODI against Australia in Visakhapatnam.

He got his Test debut in March 2013, an unforgettable occasion as smashed the fastest Test century on debut, in only 85 balls.

Dhawan was known as an ODI specialist, lighting up the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, helping India to a title win and ending up has the highest run-scorer with 363 runs at 90.75. He also went on star in other tournaments such as Asia Cup 2014, Cricket World Cup 2015, Champions Trophy 2017 and Asia Cup 2018.

The 38-year-old 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.

Dhawan 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.

In 34 Tests, he scored 2315 runs at an average of 40.61, and in 68 T20Is, 1759 at a strike rate of 126.36.

In 2019, Dhawan’s ODI career hit the first major hurdle after he was out with a thumb injury midway through the World Cup in England, soon after scoring a century against Australia at The Oval. Dhawan’s contributions were rewarded with short captaincy stints during the last leg of his international career when he led India’s second-string sides in the absence of regulars.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Dhawan represented Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings, and ends as the second-highest run-getter behind Kohli. His 6769 runs came across 222 matches at a strike rate of 127.14.

In domestic cricket, Dhawan’s early years coincided with the Ranji Trophy success for Delhi; he was part of the title-winning team in 2007-08 when Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh at the Wankhede. He was also the top run-scorer at the Under-19 World Cup in 2004.