Veteran India fast bowler Mohammed Shami is currently getting ready to play the Duleep Trophy 2026, which starts on 23rd August. The 35-year-old is part of the East Zone, who will take on the North East Zone in their opening game. Shami recently spoke to Cricket Next, where he revealed the name of the funniest Indian player in the dressing room.

He took former opening batter Shikhar Dhawan‘s name and said the player always kept the mood light even if India lost a game. 

The right-arm seamer said, “Shikhar Dhawan is a funny individual. Suppose we have lost a match, and all the members are sitting in the changing room. Shikhar will want to do something different. He will laugh loudly, and if asked why he is laughing, the answer would be because we lost. He comes up with such things.

He would stand on the table and start dancing to Punjabi music.”

“These things create a good atmosphere in the dressing room, and we also enjoy it, because winning and losing are part and parcel of the game. We keep playing throughout the year, so we face challenging times as well. But then, with such people, no one heads to the dressing room feeling sad.”

Shikhar Dhawan’s international cricket journey

Dhawan made his debut for India in 2010 in the ODI against Australia and was out for a duck.

In his Test debut, he scored 187 runs and went on to play a total of 34 matches in the red-ball format. The left-handed batter is also one of the few cricketers to score a century before lunch in Test cricket. He achieved the feat during the game against Afghanistan at Bengaluru in 2018. 

The former opening batter also had a famed partnership with Rohit Sharma as the pair added 5148 runs from 115 innings and is placed 4th on the all-time list.

Dhawasb was a part of 167 ODIs, scoring 6793 runs with 17 centuries and 39 fifties at an average of 44, and also amassed 1759 runs from 68 T20I games. 

His IPL career included stints with Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, andMumbai Indians before ending his career with Punjab Kings. The batter was part of the IPL since its start in 2008 until 2024. He played 222 games, scoring 6759 runs with two centuries and 51 half-centuries at a strike rate of 127.