When I was Benched I Realised that My Life Does not Revolve Only Around Cricket - Shikhar Dhawan

In his eight years of international career, Shikhar Dhawan has seen several ups and downs. And it seems, the southpaw has learnt the game is a great leveller.

He made his ODI debut in 2010 but was out for a duck. A long wait of three years followed it before he made his Test debut against Australia in 2013 in Mohali. It was a debut to remember for the southpaw, as he raced away to the fastest ever hundred on debut off 85 balls. He went on to score a boundary-filled 187.

Dhawan had a purple patch in 2013, and continued his form in ODIs and emerging as the player of the tournament in the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2013.

He blazed away to 363 runs in just five games, including two hundred. When Australia toured India in October 2013, Dhawan continued his form, slamming a ton and two fifties to finish with 284 runs in six matches.

By then, Dhawan had become an integral part of the team across formats. His international career, however, derailed for a while in 2017. A string of poor performance saw him losing his place in the team in the first half of last year. He was not a part of the team for most matches of the mammoth home season in 2016. But a good performance in the Indian Premier League led to recall, and he has not looked back since then.

After finishing the Champions Trophy as its highest run-scorer, the southpaw was adjudged the Man of the Series for his performance in the Test series in Sri Lanka.

Since then, he has been doing well and has once again cemented his place in the team.

Having witnessed so many up and downs in his career, Dhawan has now learnt the game is not the most important part of his career.

“If I’m destined to play for the national team then the opportunity will come my way,” Dhawan told Gaurav Kapoor on his famous web-show Breakfast With Champions.

“It is an eye-opener when you get dropped from the team. When I was benched I realised that my life does not revolve only around cricket, I have different aspects as well. The family is the most important aspect to my life,” he added.

During the freewheeling chat, Dhawan also credited his wife, Ayesha Dhawan for playing perfect support to him during troubled times.

He said his wife was a strong character who helped him deal with difficult situations effectively.