'Will you let me sleep?' - Shikhar Dhawan recalls 'smuggling' girlfriend into room shared with Rohit Sharma

Shikhar Dhawan has always been known as someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, bold, charming, and brutally honest. In his recently released autobiography The One: Cricket, My Life and More, the former India opener opened up about a little-known chapter from his early cricketing days that involved a young romance, hotel room escapades, and an understandably annoyed roommate: Rohit Sharma.

Back in 2006, Dhawan was on an India A tour to Australia. It was meant to be a defining phase in his career, but what unfolded was a whirlwind of emotions as he fell head over heels for a woman he met at the airport upon arrival. “She was a tall brunette with sharp features. I looked at her and smiled; she smiled back,” Dhawan recalls in the book. “She looked divine... I thought to myself, ‘She is the one for me, and I’m going to marry her.’”

Soon, the two exchanged numbers, and what started as a casual interaction quickly escalated into a romantic relationship. Dhawan began meeting her regularly and even started bringing her into his hotel room, one he shared with none other than Rohit Sharma. “After every game, I would go over to meet up with Ellen (not her real name), and I soon started smuggling her into my hotel room. Now and then, Rohit would complain in Hindi: ‘Will you let me sleep?’”

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While Dhawan was lost in the excitement of newfound love, his actions didn’t go unnoticed. One evening, while walking hand-in-hand with Ellen in the hotel lobby, the couple was spotted by a senior national selector. Soon, whispers turned into chatter, and the news of Dhawan’s girlfriend spread like wildfire within the team.

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Despite the growing attention, Dhawan didn’t see anything wrong in what he was doing. “It didn’t even occur to me that I should let go of her hand, because to me, we were committing no crime.” But Dhawan also reflected on the downside of that period. He candidly admitted that his focus on the field took a hit, and it may have cost him an early break into the Indian senior side.

“There was a good chance that if I had performed consistently on that tour, I would have made it to the senior Indian side, but my performance kept dipping.” Eventually, Dhawan did rise through the ranks and formed one of India’s most iconic opening partnerships in ODIs with none other than Rohit Sharma, the very roommate he once kept awake with his late-night love story.

Throughout his career, Dhawan played 34 Tests, 167 ODIs, and 68 T20Is for India, scoring over 10,000 international runs. He particularly excelled in ICC  tournaments, earning the nickname ‘Mr ICC’ for his clutch performances in global events like the 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2015 World Cup. Now retired from international cricket, Dhawan’s memoir offers fans a heartfelt and humorous window into the life of a man who always played and loved with passion.