Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has expressed his surprise over Shikhar Dhawan’s exclusion in the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa. Dhawan was not named in India’s 18-man squad and he was not even named as a replacement despite KL Rahul getting ruled out due to a right groin injury.
Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan has been a consistent performer in the IPL in the last couple of seasons. Dhawan scored 460 runs in 14 matches for Punjab Kings at an average of 38.33 and a strike rate of 122.66 in Tata IPL 2022.
Chopra reckons if Dhawan is in the selector’s scheme of things for the T20 World Cup then he should have been included in India’s squad against South Africa. In fact, Dhawan has all the experience under his belt and he is done a fine job for India in the white-ball format. Furthermore, the southpaw has also improved his strike rate in the shortest format of the game.
On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad has failed to grab his chances in the first two T20Is for the Men in Blue.
When asked if Dhawan could have been a better choice than Gaikwad, Chopra said during a Q&A session on his YouTube channel: “If Dhawan is in India’s scheme of things for the T20 World Cup, then yes. If not, then no. His selection is not based on performances. He has been scoring runs in the IPL for the past three years. I am surprised that he was captain in Sri Lanka a year back and is now not even in the team. There should be better continuity in thinking.”
Moreover, Shikhar Dhawan could have also led the team after KL Rahul was injured. Rishabh Pant is currently leading the team against the Proteas.
“If the selectors are thinking of Dhawan for the World Cup even as an outside thought, then he should have been there. Had he been in the team, he could have been captain. That was a genuine possibility.”
The renowned commentator reckons that the team misses its key players when the results are not going their way.
“Quite a bit (India is missing Rahul). When the opposition sees names like Rahul, Rohit, and Virat missing in India’s batting order, their confidence is of a different level. But when a team wins, no one misses anyone. No one is saying South Africa is missing (Aiden) Markram or (Quinton) de Kock. The opposite happens when the team loses.”
The third T20I between India and South Africa will take place at Vizag on Tuesday.
