After taking his retirement from international and domestic cricket, the left-hander Indian opening batter Shikhar Dhawan is expected to mark his return by playing in the upcoming season of the Legends League Cricket, but the question stands if he could feature in other franchise T20 leagues around the world.
In 334 T20 games, the Delhi-born has smashed 9797 runs at an average of 32.98 and a strike rate of 125.34, celebrating 70 half-centuries and a couple of centuries, as Shikhar Dhawan sits at the second position in the ladder of most runs in the IPL.
The former New Zealand batter, David White, who was the former cricket chief executive for the Blackcaps in the past for more than a decade, is now the CEO of ILT20, which became the first associate-run 20-over league to be enjoying the List A status by the ICC.
David White shows interest in getting Shikhar Dhawan for ILT20 2025
The 63-year-old, who was in Mumbai this week, interacted with the Times of India (TOI), where he shared his view on whether Shikhar Dhawan, after retiring from the national side could make his presence in the upcoming edition of the International T20 league in 2025.
Also Read: “Jasprit Bumrah’s Biggest Challenge In Australia Will Be”- Australian Legend Fires Warning
The season, which will run between January 11 and February 09, will feature 34 games at the three United Arab Emirates (UAE) cricket venues- Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
The rule of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suggests that an Indian player who has retired from the international stage can only take part in T20 leagues outside India.
David White clarified that he hadn’t had time to see the development yet, but there were consistent conversations where they had been looking for renowned players to play in their league.
“Yep. I think that there’s been some inquiries in that direction. But that’s only happened in the last 24 hours. So I haven’t got anything to report on that, but, there’s certainly interest.” The former NZ batter expressed regarding Shikhar Dhawan.
“But, we’ve no idea of whether he’s going to carry on playing cricket of that standard or not, but as soon as we heard the news, we were making some inquiries, but we’ve had no more information so far.” The Gisborne-born noted during the interview. “We are just trying to investigate whether he has retired fully from cricket or not. I’m not going to hide that there is an interest, of course.”
Shikhar Dhawan’s career for the Indian team has been decorated with winning the ‘golden bat’ in the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was one of the three players of the golden period of Indian cricket between 2013 and 2017, along with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Also Read: “All I Will Say Is KL Rahul Is..”- LSG Owner Sanjiv Goenka Breaks Silence on Batter’s IPL Future
The 38-year-old has smashed 6793 runs in 164 ODI innings at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of over 90, thanks to registering 39 half-centuries and 17 centuries. He is one of the four players, along with Rohit, Kohli, and Raina, to score over 5000 ODI runs for India at a strike rate of more than 90, and one of the three to celebrate the same feat at an average of over 40.
“I think we’ve got to make it clear that this an international style of tournament of a high profile. Shikhar Dhawan is different, he is still of international quality. We don’t want to be a legends tournament. This is a high-standard international team, nine international players, majority of them or promising young players (are) coming through.” White concluded.
