Flamboyant Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from cricket on Saturday, saying he wanted to focus on moving forward in his life.
Dhawan, 38, last played a competitive game as captain of the Punjab Kings in this year's edition of the glitzy Indian Premier League T20 tournament.
"As I close this chapter of my cricketing journey, I carry with me countless memories and gratitude. Thank you for the love and support!" he said in a social media post.
"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."
💬💬 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 24, 2024
As Shikhar Dhawan retires from International and Domestic cricket, we wish him all the very best for the road ahead 👏👏@SDhawan25 | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/nH5DVTHraP
The left-hander scored 2 315 runs with seven centuries over 34 tests.
He was prolific in ODIs, scoring 6 793 runs from 167 matches at an average of 44.11.
Dhawan represented four other teams in the IPL besides Punjab and he is the tournament's second-highest run-scorer after Virat Kohli.
His 6 769 IPL runs came across 221 innings at a strike rate of 127.14.
He last played for India in an ODI series against Bangladesh in December 2022.
"I am leaving with peace in my heart that I played so long for India," Dhawan said.
"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."
