The One: Cricket, My Life and More

by Shikhar Dhawan

'One evening, when I was headed for dinner with my British girlfriend Ellen, news of her presence spread like wildfire through the entire squad on tour. 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 that was no crime. 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.'

Flamboyant, maverick, charismatic these are some words one would use to describe Shikhar Dhawan.

One of the most aggressive and stylish batsmen in modern cricket, Dhawan has been behind some of India's most iconic victories. In The One, Dhawan takes readers on the incredible journey of his life. Growing up in the intensely competitive cricketing scene of Delhi, Dhawan started out as a wicketkeeper but later transitioned to an opening batsman, a move that would define his career.

Off the field, Dhawan's life has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride, and he bares it all in this memoir. How did a bar conversation with a former cricketer help Dhawan improve his batting. What made him visit an astrologer while he was still a teenager trying to make it big in cricket. Why was he dropped for two years from the India A team for no apparent reason? From his relationships to his friendships, to all the controversies surrounding him, this is a no holds barred account of how Dhawan handled every curveball that life threw at him while performing and winning at the highest level for India.

Written with candour and sincerity, The One offers an unprecedented glimpse into Shikhar Dhawan's inner monologue and all the vulnerabilities that have shaped him into the champion cricketer and sensitive human being he is today. Raw and powerful, this is a story that will stay with readers and fans for a long time.

Genres: Sports

219 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2025

Reviews

[The Bookish Elf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shikhar Dhawan's memoir "The One: Cricket, My Life and More" arrives as a refreshingly candid addition to the sports autobiography genre. Unlike many cricket memoirs that tend to sanitize the player's journey, Dhawan's narrative embraces vulnerability with the same fearlessness he displayed while facing 150 kmph bouncers. This is not just another celebrity tell-all; it's a deeply introspective examination of how cricket shaped a man, and how a man learned to navigate the complexities of life both on and off the field.

Narrative Structure: A Well-Paced Journey Through Time

Dhawan structures his memoir chronologically, beginning with his mischievous childhood in Delhi's Vikaspuri colony and progressing through his rise to international stardom. The pacing feels natural, with each chapter building upon the previous one while maintaining its own distinct flavor. The author's decision to interweave personal struggles with professional milestones creates a compelling narrative that reads more like a novel than a traditional sports biography.

What sets this memoir apart is Dhawan's willingness to dedicate equal weight to his failures and controversies as he does to his triumphs. The chapters dealing with his relationships with foreign women, his struggles with form, and his eventual divorce are handled with remarkable honesty. This balanced approach prevents the book from becoming a self-congratulatory exercise and instead presents a complete picture of a complex individual.

The Delhi Boy: Childhood and Early Cricket

The opening chapters paint a vivid picture of Dhawan's formative years in Delhi, where his reputation as the colony's "menace" was established early. His recollection of blowing up mailboxes with Diwali firecrackers and his various childhood escapades reveal the fearless streak that would later serve him well on cricket fields around the world. These anecdotes, while entertaining, also serve a deeper purpose in establishing the foundation of his personality.

Dhawan's introduction to cricket through the legendary Sonnet Cricket Club and his relationship with coach Tarak Sinha provides valuable insights into Delhi's cricket ecosystem. His detailed description of traveling alone on Delhi's blueline buses to reach practice sessions offers a glimpse into the dedication required even at the grassroots level. These chapters succeed in humanizing a cricket star, showing how ordinary circumstances can forge extraordinary determination.

The Vulnerable Champion: Personal Struggles and Growth

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of "The One" is Dhawan's unflinching examination of his personal life. His relationships with Aldona, the Polish woman, and later Ellen, the British woman, are narrated with remarkable honesty. Rather than portraying himself as a victim of circumstances, Dhawan acknowledges his own role in these failed relationships and the impact they had on his cricket career.

The chapter dealing with his marriage to Aesha Mukerji and their subsequent divorce is particularly powerful. Dhawan doesn't shy away from discussing the challenges of a long-distance marriage, his own insecurities, and the painful separation from his son Zoraver. His description of seeing his son for only a few hours during park visits is heartbreaking and reveals the human cost of pursuing excellence in professional sports.

Cricket Philosophy: The Mental Game

Dhawan's insights into the mental aspects of cricket are among the book's strongest elements. His discussion of visualization, journaling, and the law of attraction provides a fascinating glimpse into the modern cricketer's psychological preparation. The influence of "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne on his career is explored in detail, showing how spiritual practices can complement physical training.

His analysis of different formats and the evolution of T20 cricket offers valuable perspective on how the game has changed during his career. The chapters dealing with the IPL's early years provide historical context about cricket's commercialization, while his experiences with different coaches offer insights into various leadership styles in professional sports.

Writing Style: Conversational Yet Profound

Dhawan's narrative voice is conversational and engaging, maintaining the same easy-going personality that made him popular among teammates and fans. The writing occasionally feels uneven, with some chapters flowing more smoothly than others, but this actually adds to the authenticity of the narrative. The author's tendency to digress into philosophical observations about life and spirituality might not appeal to readers seeking purely cricket-focused content, but it provides depth to his character portrayal.

The inclusion of specific details about matches, partnerships, and cricketing techniques will satisfy hardcore cricket fans, while the personal anecdotes and life lessons make the book accessible to general readers. Dhawan's ability to find humor in difficult situations, evident throughout the memoir, prevents the narrative from becoming overly serious despite dealing with heavy topics.

International Cricket: The Pressure Cooker

The sections dealing with Dhawan's international career provide valuable insights into the pressure-cooker environment of Indian cricket. His description of debut nerves, the weight of expectations, and the constant scrutiny from media and fans illuminates the mental challenges faced by international cricketers. The chapter about his record-breaking performance in the 2013 Champions Trophy captures the euphoria of peak performance while acknowledging the role of luck and timing in sporting success.

His candid discussion of being dropped from various formats and his eventual acceptance of retirement offers a mature perspective on the inevitable decline that all athletes face. The way he handles his exclusion from the 2023 World Cup squad demonstrates personal growth and the wisdom that comes with age and experience.

Areas for Improvement

While "The One" succeeds in many areas, it has some shortcomings. The spiritual and philosophical sections, while providing insight into Dhawan's mindset, occasionally feel disconnected from the cricket narrative. Some readers might find the detailed descriptions of his meditation practices and spiritual awakening repetitive or preachy.

The book could have benefited from more analysis of specific cricket techniques and strategies. While Dhawan discusses his approach to different bowlers and conditions, technical cricket enthusiasts might crave more detailed breakdowns of his batting methodology. Additionally, some chapters feel rushed, particularly those dealing with his later international career, which could have been explored in greater depth.

Legacy and Life Lessons

The final chapters focusing on Dhawan's transition to life after cricket and his business ventures with Da One Group provide a blueprint for athletes preparing for retirement. His emphasis on giving back to society through sports education and his honest assessment of the challenges of transitioning from professional sports offer valuable insights for current and former athletes.

Final Verdict

"The One: Cricket, My Life and More" succeeds as both a cricket memoir and a coming-of-age story about finding peace with oneself. Dhawan's honesty about his mistakes, his growth as a person, and his acceptance of life's impermanence make this more than just another sports autobiography. While it may not offer the technical cricket insights of some other memoirs, it provides something equally valuable: a genuine human story about resilience, acceptance, and the courage to be vulnerable.

The book will particularly resonate with readers who appreciate authenticity over polish, and those interested in the psychological aspects of professional sports. Despite its occasional flaws, "The One" establishes Shikhar Dhawan as not just a successful cricketer, but as a thoughtful individual who has learned to find meaning beyond the boundary ropes.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shikhar Dhawan’s ‘The One: Cricket, My Life and More’ reads less like the polished autobiography of a sporting celebrity and more like a long, late-night conversation in which the speaker finally allows himself to be unguarded.

What struck me most while reading it was not Dhawan the explosive opener, the man of tournaments and ICC trophies, but Dhawan the bruised human being—impulsive, emotional, deeply affectionate, and often painfully vulnerable.

The book is not elegant in a literary sense, nor does it aspire to the reflective hauteur of a Mike Brearley or a Rahul Dravid. Instead, it offers something rarer in Indian sports autobiographies: emotional transparency without calculation.

Dhawan begins, as expected, with his childhood in Delhi, his early fascination with cricket, and the sacrifices made by his family. These sections are familiar territory for Indian cricket readers—early mornings, relentless practice, parents stretching finances, coaches shaping raw talent.

Yet even here, Dhawan’s voice feels different. He is candid about his restlessness, his stubbornness, and his need for approval. Cricket was not merely ambition; it was validation. From an early age, he wanted to be seen, admired, and chosen. This psychological thread quietly runs through the entire book and helps explain both his successes and his missteps.

As the narrative moves into his professional career, ‘The One’ does not dwell excessively on match-by-match recounting. Dhawan touches on milestones—his dream debut, his Champions Trophy heroics, and his reputation as a big-tournament performer—but these moments are treated almost casually. What matters more to him is the emotional context surrounding them: the insecurity of being dropped, the anxiety of comebacks, and the constant fear of being replaced in a system that rarely offers explanations. His account of being in and out of the Indian team is especially telling.

Dhawan does not present himself as a victim, but he also does not romanticize the process. Selection, he suggests, is as much about timing, perception, and politics as it is about runs scored.

One of the book’s strengths is its depiction of the Indian dressing room as a space of both camaraderie and quiet loneliness. Dhawan writes warmly about teammates, particularly Virat Kohli, whose friendship he portrays as instinctive and deeply emotional. There is genuine affection here, not the obligatory praise often found in sports memoirs.

At the same time, Dhawan makes it clear that professional cricket is an isolating life. Even in a team environment, players carry private anxieties—about form, fitness, and relevance—that are rarely spoken aloud. In this sense, ‘The One’ becomes a subtle commentary on the mental health pressures of elite sport, even if Dhawan never explicitly frames it that way.

The most arresting sections of the book, however, have little to do with cricket. Dhawan’s account of his marriage, separation, and prolonged legal and emotional turmoil forms the emotional core of the memoir. This is where the book sheds any remaining veneer of celebrity autobiography and becomes something raw and unsettling. Dhawan writes openly about falling in love, about ignoring red flags, and about giving himself completely to a relationship that eventually fractured him.

There is pain here, but also confusion and regret. He does not pretend to be blameless, nor does he fully conceal his bitterness. The honesty is sometimes uncomfortable, and at times the narrative feels one-sided—as personal narratives inevitably do—but it is precisely this lack of polish that gives these chapters their force.

What stayed with me most was Dhawan’s description of fatherhood and loss. His longing for his son, the ache of separation, and the helplessness he feels in navigating legal systems and emotional distance are conveyed with disarming directness. These passages transcend sport entirely. They speak to vulnerability, masculinity, and the difficulty men often face in articulating emotional pain. Dhawan, known publicly for his smile and flamboyant moustache twirl, allows readers to see how performative joy can coexist with private devastation.

Stylistically, ‘The One’ is straightforward, even simple. Dhawan does not attempt metaphor-heavy prose or philosophical digressions. At times, the language feels repetitive, and the narrative occasionally lacks structural tightness.

Yet this simplicity works in the book’s favor. It mirrors Dhawan’s personality—open, impulsive, unfiltered. The voice feels authentic, as though the book is spoken rather than written. Readers looking for refined literary craftsmanship may be disappointed, but readers seeking sincerity will not be.

What the book ultimately offers is a portrait of a cricketer who refuses to reduce his life to statistics. Dhawan does not define himself solely by centuries or trophies. He defines himself by relationships, emotions, mistakes, and resilience.

The title, ‘The One’, initially seems like a reference to singular achievement or self-belief. By the end, it feels more ambiguous. It gestures toward the idea that each person must ultimately stand alone with their choices, consequences, and capacity to endure.

As a personal reading experience, I found ‘The One’ unexpectedly moving. It is not a book I admired for its craft, but one I respected for its courage.

Dhawan exposes himself to judgment—by fans, by critics, and by those who will inevitably question his version of events. In doing so, he challenges the carefully managed public image of the Indian cricketer as disciplined, stoic, and uncomplicated. He shows instead a man who feels deeply, errs badly, loves fiercely, and survives imperfectly.

In the end, ‘The One’ is less about cricketing greatness and more about emotional survival.

It reminds us that behind the helmets, the endorsements, and the national expectations are individuals navigating the same fragile terrain of love, loss, and identity as everyone else.

For that honesty alone, Shikhar Dhawan’s memoir deserves to be read—not just by cricket fans, but by anyone interested in the human cost of success.

Most recommended.

[Vipul Murarka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give this book 3.5 stars actually.

In my opinion, this book, like his cricket innings, have been quite superficial. Yes I never really liked Shikhar as a batter and I felt he was a bit over-rated, I was still quite keen to read his biography. But like his innings, start of each chapter was good but not much depth as you go ahead. He just touched the surface of his personal experiences and professional experiences in about a sentence or at the max few paragraphs. I was hoping to read more about his camardarie with Rohit and Virat, how they took each game, what used to happen behind the scenes among them. He has dealt with his personal life in a much more detail than he has written about his matches and games. But still it just felt tip of the iceberg.

Having said that, there are a number of places where i could relate with him in personal life and i felt we share similar thought process and ways to deal with setbacks. but having said that, i was expecting much more about his cricketing life and stories.

Also, make sure to keep a dictionary atleast in the initial part of the book as literaly every page has some extravagant vocabulary thanks to the co-authors and their background. A true cricket lover might feel a disconnect there also as we all knew Shikhar's English was good but not all that great.

It is a good quick read but if you are expecting any cricket elements, there are not much.

[Our_readingjourney · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ONE : CRICKET, MY LIFE AND MORE

Shikhar Dhawan needs no introduction. A flamboyant Indian cricketer known for his explosive on field persona and his trademark celebratory style of thigh 5 and swirling of his moustache bares it all in his memoir The One which is not only about his life on field but also off the field.
Shikhar very candidly bares it all including the toughest challenges he faced on field, setbacks he faced due to his injuries and off the field due to his insecurities and especially about being away from his biological son Zoraver with whom his communication is negligible.
Reading about his success in the ICC tournaments and his in-depth insights into the rise and changes in IPL from its inception to now was very fascinating.
This book doesn't only mention the good about Shikhar but also about his career lies when he was dropped and not picked up on the squad to his eventual decision to retire.
Being an ardent cricket fan - I picked this book during the ongoing England India Tests series and the candid conversation like narration had me breezing past the book.
The One captures Shikhar's life beautifully! A story of a lion hearted charismatic warrior!

[Myinstabookblog · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
An honest account of cricket shikhar dhawan’s life.

[Sameer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest account of the Bhangra famous amazing opener of ours. A good read for any sports lover. life lessons on success n setbacks.