'Didn't have inspiration left to play domestic cricket for national spot': Shikhar Dhawan on retirement

Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Wednesday revealed that he didnt have the inspiration left to take the domestic cricket route for a place in the national side and that was the reason why he chose to retire from the game last monthThe 38yearold Dhawan retired from international and domestic cricket late in August after having played 34 Tests 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is for India between 2013 and 2022I didnt want to play domestic cricket which I started playing at the age of 18 or 19 and I didnt have that inspiration from inside to play that form of cricket Dhawan told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket an event for retired cricketers that he signed up for after calling it quits from the game internationallyDhawan became Indias 25th ODI skipper in an ODI against Sri Lanka in June 2021 when he stood in for Rohit Sharma and went on to lead the country in 12 matches winning seven and losing threeHowever before the ODI World Cup last year Dhawan had to make way for a younger batter in Shubman Gill His last international appearance for India was in December 2022If I look back the last two years of my cricketing career I wasnt playing much of international cricket and I was playing IPL to IPL so I wasnt playing much of cricket overall said the bighitting openerAlso ReadDelhi boys Kohli Gambhir and Pant steal the show with buggy ride WATCHHe left the arena as a bonafide IPL legend after appearing in 222 matches that yielded 6769 runs including two hundreds and 51 half centuriesHis 768 fours in the tournament are the highest by any batter and he also holds the distinction of being the first to hit consecutive hundreds in the eventI thought that alright Ive played enough and I need to give it a break because Im not playing that much cricket so you lose the touch as well he said as he opened about his mindset before announcing the big decisionDhawan who captained Punjab Kings in a few games last year said he also realised that practising twothree months for the IPL would not be enough for him to be in contention for a national callupI thought that continuing IPL and just coming up with two three months of hard work wont be enough for me to go and play he saidDhawan who had a terrific average of 6515 highest among all Indian batters ever in ICC limitedovers events reiterated that he was content with the way his journey endedSo that was the reason for me to just call it off and yeah I was very happy and satisfied and content with whatever I achieved in my career and very very grateful for everything he saidOf course we would have loved to win the World Cup said Dhawan who played in the 2015 and 2019 iterations of the ODI World Cup and was also a member of Indias titlewinning side in the 2013 Champions TrophyThe former India opener Dhawan stands eighth in the overall list of highest partnership runs in career for any wicket with India captain Rohit Sharma having added 5193 runs at 4515 in 117 matches with 18 century and 15 halfcenturies standsDhawan said he was pleased to see Rohits career hitting further highs the highlight being Indias T20 World Cup win under his leadershipHes a great captain and so happy that he led the team and won the World Cup for our nation We were waiting for that World Cup for a long time We were very close in winning the ODI World Cup as well and now we achieved that goal in T20Is Dhawan saidHes a very experienced captain and Im sure all the boys love him as a leader and he has done a phenomenal job for the Indian team he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever