Shikhar Dhawan (born 5 December 1985) is an Indian former cricketer who played as an opening batter. He was a regular member of the Indian team in limited-overs formats for over a decade and represented Delhi in domestic cricket. He was leading run scorer and also named as the Player of the Tournament in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and even he was leading run-scorer by an indian at the 2015 World Cup. Across ICC World Cups and Champions Trophies, he averaged 65.15, the highest among players with over 1000 runs. Dhawan made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Australia in October 2010 at Visakhapatnam. His Test debut came against the same opposition in March 2013 at Mohali, where he scored the fastest century by any batsman on Test debut (85 balls) and ended his innings with 187 runs from 174 balls. This is also the highest score by an Indian on a Test debut. In August 2013, Dhawan scored 248 off 150 balls for India A against South Africa A in a List A match, which was then the second-highest individual score in the format. He later became the first Indian to score a century in his 100th ODI, during a match against South Africa in Johannesburg. On 14 June 2018, he scored a century before lunch on the opening day of a Test against Afghanistan. Dhawan also went through phases of inconsistent form, both in domestic and international cricket. On 24 August 2024, Dhawan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. == Early life == Dhawan was born on 5 December 1985 in Delhi, India to Sunaina and Mahendra Pal Dhawan. He completed his schooling at St. Mark's Senior Secondary Public School in Meera Bagh, Delhi. Since the age of 12, he trained at Sonnet Club under the guidance of coach Tarak Sinha, who has trained 12 international cricketers. Dhawan was a wicket-keeper when he first joined the club. Despite being a right hander who writes right handed, Dhawan learnt to bat left handed. == Early career == === Youth career === Dhawan first played for Delhi Under-16s in the 1999/00 Vijay Merchant Trophy and was the leading run-scorer of the 2000/01 Vijay Merchant Trophy in which Delhi finished runners-up. He scored 755 runs from 9 innings at an average of 83.88 with two centuries and a top score of 199. Dhawan was selected in the North Zone Under-16s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in February 2001. He scored 30 and 66 in the semifinal against South Zone. Dhawan's impressive performances for Delhi Under-16s were rewarded when he was picked in the India Under-17 squad for the 2000/01 ACC Under-17 Asia Cup. He played three games in the tournament averaging 85. Dhawan was subsequently drafted into the Delhi Under-19 team in October 2001, at the age of 15, for the Cooch Behar Trophy. In 2001/02 Vijay Merchant Trophy, Dhawan impressed once again with the bat by scoring 282 runs in 5 innings at an average of 70.50. In October 2002, Dhawan was selected again in the Delhi Under-19 team for the Cooch Behar Trophy in which he made 388 runs from 8 innings at an average of 55.42 including two centuries. He was then picked to play for North Zone Under-19s in January 2003 in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. Dhawan scored 45 and 12 in the semifinal against Central Zone, before top-scoring for his team with 71 in the final on a seaming track in Rohtak against East Zone securing his team an innings-win. In the CK Nayudu Trophy held in February 2003, Dhawan averaged 55.50 with the bat for North Zone Under-19s. He continued to amass runs at the Under-19 domestic level as he scored 444 runs from 6 innings at an average of 74 in the Cooch Behar Trophy in October after which he was made the captain of the Delhi Under-19 team. Dhawan averaged 66.66 in the MA Chidambaram Trophy held in December that year which was his first tournament as captain. Dhawan played for India in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh and finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament scoring a total of 505 runs. Dhawan's runs came at an average of 84.16, with three centuries and a fifty, and was named Player of the Tournament. In the two youth Tests against England the following January, he had scores of 69, 18, and 41. === Early domestic career === Dhawan made his first-class debut for Delhi against Andhra in November 2004, in the 2004–05 season of the Ranji Trophy scoring 49 on his debut innings. He finished as Delhi's leading run-getter that Ranji season with a total of 461 runs from 6 matches and a high score of 130, scoring more runs than experienced players in the team like Ajay Jadeja and Aakash Chopra. In the Ranji One-day Trophy that followed, Dhawan made his List A debut against Jammu & Kashmir in January 2005. He then scored back-to-back unbeaten hundreds against Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. He was picked in the India Seniors squad for the Challenger Trophy in February, in which he opened the innings against India B with future India teammate MS Dhoni. In the second match, Dhawan scored a 124-ball 126, sharing a 246-run first-wicket partnership with Dhoni who also struck a century, helping India Seniors chase down 276 for the loss of two wickets. He was selected in the India A team to play in the one-off 50-over match against the touring Pakistani team in March that year. He scored 8 before being bowled by Naved-ul-Hasan. In 2005/06 Challenger Trophy in October 2005, Dhawan played for India B and had a disappointing series with the bat. He had scores of 30, 40, and 26, unable to convert the starts into big knocks. He scored 117 for North Zone against Zimbabwe Cricket Union President's XI in the Duleep Trophy and 65 for Board President's XI in a three-day match against the touring Sri Lankan team. He averaged 34.40 in the 2005–06 Ranji season, but returned to form in the Ranji One-day Trophy scoring at an average of 40.75 from five games. Dhawan was drafted into the North Zone squad for Deodhar Trophy later that month where he continued to be in good form with scores of 56 against Central Zone, 65 against West Zone, 44 against South Zone and 5 against East Zone. North Zone went on to win the tournament and retain the trophy. Dhawan represented India A in the EurAsia Cricket Series in April–May 2006, a limited-overs tournament held at Abu Dhabi between India A, Ireland A, Netherlands A, Pakistan A and United Arab Emirates. He finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 288 runs from 5 matches at an average of 72 including a hundred and two fifties. Dhawan started the 2006-07 Ranji season with a century against Tamil Nadu, batting at number three. He was made captain of the Delhi team for the Ranji One-day Trophy in February 2007, despite the presence of international players in the lineup such as Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Aakash Chopra and Ashish Nehra. Dhawan scored 161 runs in the tournament at an average of 32.20 with a top score of 46 while Delhi could not progress past the quarterfinals. He batted at four for North Zone in the Deodhar Trophy in February–March and averaged 23.66 from three innings. Delhi won the 2007–08 season of Ranji Trophy in which Dhawan made 570 runs from 8 matches at an average of 43.84 including two hundreds. In the Duleep Trophy that followed, he averaged 42.25 in his three games for North Zone. He was the second-highest run-getter in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (earlier called Ranji One-day Trophy) in February–March 2008, accumulating 389 runs in 6 matches at an average of 97.25 with two hundreds and a strike rate of over 100. However, Dhawan lost his form during the Deodhar Trophy in March when he played for North Zone and made scores of 0, 1 and 5. He failed to make an impression playing for India A in a four-day match against New Zealand A in September as he scored 27 and 7. Dhawan returned to form in the 2008–09 Ranji season with 415 runs at an average over 69, but had an indifferent run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in February 2009 with an average of 18.80 in six innings. Dhawan played for India Red in the Challenger Trophy in October 2009. He averaged 48.33 in that tournament which India Red won. His good form continued in the Ranji Trophy as he scored 224 in the season's opening match against Baroda and 100 in the second game against Karnataka. However, Dhawan suffered an injury in the third match which kept him on the sidelines for four weeks He returned to the team during the knockout stage and finished the Ranji season with a total of 451 runs from 6 innings averaging 75.16. In February 2010, Dhawan played five matches for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and scored the most runs for his team, 327 runs at 81.75, including a century (155*) and two fifties, earning himself a spot in the North Zone team for Deodhar Trophy in March. He made an unbeaten 85 in the semifinal against East Zone and 48 in the final against West Zone, helping North Zone lift the trophy. === Inconsistent seasons === Dhawan was recalled in India A squad that toured England in June–July 2010. In the first game of the tour, a three-day match against Yorkshire, Dhawan scored 179 off 208 balls to help India A post 473/3d. Yorkshire was bowled out for 219 in their first innings and the match ended in a draw. In the limited-overs triangular series involving England Lions, India A, and West Indies A, Dhawan scored 166 runs from 4 innings at an average of 41.50 and a strike rate of 130.70. Dhawan was selected in the Rest of India squad to play against the defending Ranji champions Mumbai in the Irani Cup in October 2010. He scored 83 in the first innings as the Rest of India won by 361 runs. He was then selected to play for India Blue in the Challengers Trophy. Dhawan was dismissed run out for a duck in the first game against India Red before he scored a 121-ball 109 in the second match against India Green. India Red beat India Green in the final at Indore where he scored 44. This string of strong performances earned him his maiden international call-up against Australia in October. In November 2010, Dhawan ret