“Excellent ambassador of cricket” – Shikhar Dhawan wishes Hashim Amla on retirement

Cricket in South Africa has been dealt with a couple of massive blows over the past few days. Earlier, Dale Steyn, one of their premier fast bowlers, hung his boots from Test cricket, citing his plans of prolonging his career in the T20I and ODI format. On August 8, Thursday, Hashim Amla, one of their greatest batsmen in all formats, decided to call it quits from all forms of cricket at the age of 36.

The veteran didn’t have the best of years and had a poor run in the World Cup. Amla couldn’t deliver with the bat and saw the Proteas slide down the barrel in the mega event. In the statement of his retirement, Amla thanked Almighty and said that he had learned from playing cricket at the highest level. Hashim also expressed gratitude to his parents, friends and family for extending support.

After he bid adieu, the cricketing fraternity showered him with praises. Shikhar Dhawan, the Indian left-handed batsman also lauded Amla on an incredible journey for the Proteas. Moreover, he called him a great ambassador of cricket. The southpaw took to Twitter and wrote, “Excellent ambassador to the game of cricket. All the very best on your retirement, @amlahash,”

Here is Dhawan’s tweet

Excellent ambassador to the game of cricket. All the very best on your retirement, @amlahash pic.twitter.com/W3SOUqlIao

— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) August 9, 2019

Rough times for Dhawan

Dhawan has had a rather tough time of late. He was a part of the Indian squad for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. He scored a magnificent century against Australia at the Kennington Oval in London. However, in the same match, he ended his hurting his thumb by a bouncer from Pat Cummins. He was subsequently ruled out of the tournament, much to his grief and agony.

Rishabh Pant was roped-in as his replacement. Nevertheless, Dhawan recovered in time and made the cut for the T20I series against the Windies. But to his sheer disappointment, he could manage only 27 runs in three encounters. In two of those games, he got out on single-digit scores.

Dhawan would now be looking to make amends in the ODI series. In the first game at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, he didn’t get a chance to bat after the contest was called off due to frequent spells of shower.