Shikhar Dhawan, the former India opening batter, has made a startling revelation about his personal life, and it dates back to 2006. In his memoir titled ‘The One: Cricket, My Life and More’, the former India batter, who was regarded as ‘Mr ICC’, opened up on a time when he developed strong feelings for a girl during India A’s series against Australia in 2006. He opened up on the times he used to “smuggle” the girl to the hotel room he shared with Rohit Sharma.
Shikhar Dhawan also revealed Rohit Sharma’s reaction to the same, saying his relationship with the woman became a talking point within the team throughout the tour of Australia.
“Then came a tour to Australia with the India A squad in 2006. The moment I landed in Darwin, I noticed a beautiful woman in the immigration queue. She was a tall brunette with a blunt cut and sharp features. She looked divine. I looked at her and smiled; she smiled back. She wheeled her luggage trolley and walked over to the conveyor belt to collect her luggage. I did the same and stood next to her,” the excerpt reads, as per Sportstar.
Dhawan then said that he spoke with the girl for a brief while, and it was not long before they exchanged phone numbers. He also said Robin Singh, the then India A coach, was on friendly terms with him and did not have any problems.
“By the time our conversation was over, we had exchanged phone numbers and email IDs. Once I reached the hotel, I emailed her. She responded. I invited her to a party. She accepted, and I was on cloud nine. Robin Singh was the India A coach on that Australia tour, and I had often gone for parties with him in the past. We were more like friends than player and coach,” Dhawan wrote.
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Dhawan, who represented India in more than 200 international matches, said that it was not long before he started “smuggling” the woman to his hotel room, much to the dismay of Rohit Sharma.
“My plan to meet up with this Englishwoman started taking shape, and we started partying regularly during that tour. She was very beautiful, and suddenly I was in love again! I thought to myself, ‘She is the one for me, and I am going to marry her.’ After every game, I would go over to meet up with Ellen, and I soon started smuggling her into my hotel room, which I was sharing with Rohit Sharma. Now and then, he would complain in Hindi. ‘Will you let me sleep?’,” added Dhawan.
‘Selector spotted us’
Dhawan, who retired from international cricket in August 2024, then said that the news of him having a girlfriend in Australia spread like wildfire within the team after the selector spotted them in the lobby of a hotel.
Dhawan was also candid enough to admit that he was probably distracted throughout the tour of Australia, which resulted in his performance dipping.
“One evening, when I headed for dinner with Ellen, news of her presence spread like wildfire throughout the entire squad. A senior national selector, who was on tour with us, spotted us walking in the lobby with our hands linked. It didn’t even occur to me that I should let go of her hand, because to me, we were committing no crime,” wrote Dhawan.
“There was a good chance that if I had performed consistently on that Australia tour, I would have made it to the senior Indian side, but my performance kept dipping,” he added.
Dhawan represented India in 167 ODIs, 68 T20Is and 34 Tests. Most of his success came in the 50-over format as he registered 6793 runs at an average of 44.11.
The ICC tournaments brought out the best in him, and he is known for his performance in the 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy. He even began the 2019 ODI World Cup well, but following the match against Australia, he was ruled out of the tournament.