Shikhar Dhawan’s exile continues. The veteran India opener was not named in the squads for the IND vs WI series in July-August. .With Shubman Gill becoming India’s new No 1 opener, Dhawan’s chances have diminished rapidly over the last few months. The veteran player is currently at the NCA focusing on his fitness despite missing out on selection.
InsideSport reached out to a senior BCCI official on what the board’s plans are regarding Dhawan. Here’s what he had to say.
“He is definitely in plans, at least till the World Cup. But yes, young players will be prioritised. Now, it is up to the selectors whether they want to see Shikhar on the West Indies tour or Asia Cup,” the official told InsideSport.
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Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the ODI squad after the Bangladesh tour. He could only manage scores of 7, 8 & 3 against Bangladesh. With Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan commanding in ODIs, Dhawan was axed. The road seemed to end in a World Cup year just two months after he led the side in New Zealand.
But interestingly, he found a place in BCCI Central Contracts even though another opener like Mayank Agarwal was dropped.
InsideSport understands that the team management had a chat with Dhawan about the plans. He was dropped based on form and not completely out of the squad. With World Cup 2023 just three months away, selectors do not want to banish Dhawan completely.
He is likely to get a chance on the West Indies tour after scoring 373 runs in 11 games at an average of 41.44 in IPL 2023. And even though the chances of him making the Playing XI are slim, if he succeeds in one of the 3 ODIs, he will continue to feature in the team’s plans till World Cup. After that, Dhawan is expected to hang up his boots in ODIs.
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