Just playing two-three months of IPL was not enough for me to play international cricket: Shikhar Dhawan

Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan is currently engaged with the ongoing Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2024. He recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and further explained why he decided to hang up his boots. In a recent interview, Dhawan admitted that he did not have the inspiration to play domestic cricket. 

Dhawan retired from international and domestic cricket in August 2024. He retired after having played 34 Tests, 167 ODIs, and 68 T20Is for the Indian team and was one of the best batters for the Men in Blue in his prime. 

"I didn't want to play domestic cricket, which I started playing at the age of 18 or 19, and I didn't have that inspiration from inside to play that (form of) cricket," Dhawan was quoted as saying by The Times of India. 

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Interestingly, Dhawan was India’s 25th ODI skipper, leading India in 12 matches, losing three and winning seven out of those. His last international appearance for the Indian team came in December 2022. 

“If I look back, the last two years of my cricketing career, I wasn't playing much of international cricket and I was playing IPL to IPL, so I wasn't playing much of cricket (overall). I thought that, 'alright, I've played enough, and I need to give it a break because I'm not playing that much cricket, so you lose the touch as well," Dhawan said.

Won’t be enough for me to play: Dhawan

Furthermore, Shikhar Dhawan talked about his time in the IPL. He opined that despite playing in the IPL for Punjab Kings, a few months of cricket was not going to be enough for a national call-up.

"I thought that continuing IPL and just coming up with two, three months of hard work won't be enough for me to go and play,” Dhawan added.