"Shikhar Dhawan could have gone on for a couple of years": Madan Sharma

Childhood coach Madan Sharma (left) with Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan's retirement announcement came as a surprise to Madan Sharma, one of his New Delhi-based childhood coaches.

"I did not expect [to hear of] Shikhar's retirement decision. Maybe there are some assignments which he wants to undertake," Madan told mid-day from the Capital on Saturday.

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Madan, however, felt his ward could have gone on for a couple of years. "Yes, he could have. Even Rohit [Sharma] had told Shikhar to keep himself ready for the 2023 ODI World Cup and said, ‘you need to play in the World Cup.' Later, Ishan Kishan scored a double century [210 v Bangladesh in an ODI] and Shubman Gill got runs. He then may have thought that it's time for young players to come in. I think he would have felt better had he got a series to announce his retirement," remarked Madan. Dhawan was also a student of award-winning departed coach Tarak Sinha and he did not fail to mention them on Saturday: "I always had one goal in mind [and] that was to play for India. I achieved it thanks to a lot of people. First of all, my family, my childhood coach Tarak Sinha and Madan Sharma. Under their guidance, I learnt cricket."

While recalling Dhawan's childhood days, when the left-hander enrolled for coaching at the age of 12, Madan said: "He played practice matches competitively too. He disliked losing. He would feel hurt if his team lost even if he scored a hundred and was never afraid of getting injured."