The Indian cricket team have been testing their bench strength quite frequently these days.
While the senior side was busy with a four-day practice match against Leicestershire as well the final Edgbaston Test against England, an experimental second-string side took on Ireland in two T20 Internationals.
The pattern continued during the recent three-match One Day International series against West Indies where the Men in Blue secured an impressive 3-0 whitewash. In the absence of usual suspects Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul, veteran opening batter Shikhar Dhawan assumed the responsibilities of being team captain and led the side extremely well.
Dhawan had also captained a second-string side against Sri Lanka in white ball cricket last year when the senior side was in England because of the World Test Championship final and the Test series against England.
With a host of young talents propping up, especially in limited overs, there’s the feeling that Shikhar Dhawan’s position in the team is extremely uncertain. After all, players like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad are knocking on the doors.
However, according to former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar, the left-hander is still invaluable to the side in the 50-over format. He lavished praise on Shikhar Dhawan and mentioned that he had improved his fitness to better adapt to his age and it will give him the legs to be in contention for the 2023 ICC World Cup which will be hosted in India in October and November.
“When it comes to ODI cricket, we don’t want to look beyond him too much or at least till the 2023 World Cup, and in the shorter format, he is a back-up better. He has carved a niche for himself as a reliable opening batter. His fitness is probably better than what it was a few years ago. He also understands the game better,” said Sridhar.
Sridhar, who was an essential part of Ravi Shastri’s support staff, also highlighted how India have the luxury of fielding multiple teams at the highest level that can compete against the opposition. “With the advent of IPL, we have that kind of luxury of fielding two or even three teams which can compete at the highest level. Why not make the most of it? We have entertaining cricketers who would put bums on seats and get eyeballs on television as well,” he further added.
