Shikhar Dhawan retirement: Will Shikhar play in IPL despite announcing retirement?

Earlier this morning, Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from cricket. Commonly nicknamed ‘Gabbar’ and ‘Mr. ICC’, Dhawan released a video on social media platforms announcing his decision. One of the highest run scorers for India, Dhawan announced he was leaving behind International and Domestic Cricket. Dhawan made a name for himself by constantly delivering at ICC events and due to his aggressive batting. 

In his video message announcing his retirement, Shikhar Dhawan said, "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 am leaving with peace in my heart that I played so long for India. 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." 

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Shikhar Dhawan last played for India in 2022 against Bangladesh. 

Will Dhawan Play The IPL Next Year 

As Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement several keywords such as ‘retiring from all forms of the game’, ‘retiring from cricket in all forms’ and ‘retiring from the Indian team and IPL’ were missing. This has led to huge nationwide speculation on whether Gabbar will feature in the next season of the IPL in 2025. 

Shikhar Dhawan has played for various franchises in his time playing the IPL. These include- Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers and Punjab Kings. Dhawan has an impressive record in the IPL and is the second highest run scorer in the tournament only behind Virat Kohli. 

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Since Shikhar Dhawan did not talk about his IPL career in his retirement video, fans are wondering whether the batter will play in the IPL or not. To further add confusion to his saga, there were also visuals of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings in the retirement video. 

Although, Shikhar categorically did not state that he will not play in the IPL but references to his IPL career indicate that he will not play in IPL next year. He also said he is retiring from domestic cricket, that is another indication. There were rumours also that PBKS is not keen to retain him in the IPL auctions. So all in all, it looks like Dhawan is retiring from IPL also. (This is an assumption from video, Shikhar has categorically not stated it till now. 

Drawing Comparisons To Other Indian Players 

There have been several instances where cricketers have announced their retirement but continued to play in various domestic and franchise leagues. Dinesh Karthik is a prime example of this as he had announced he was moving away from competitive cricket but is now going to be playing in the SA20 league next year. 

Robin Uthappa had also announced his retirement from all forms of the game but then played the T10 league in Abu Dhabi. There is also the case of Suresh Raina who announced his retirement and then never played again in any league or domestic team. 

All these arguments lead to speculations that there is a chance that ‘Mr. ICC’ might pick up his bat and don his gloves and play in the IPL but nothing can be confirmed until Shikhar Dhawan confirms it himself.