"If the team management still believes that 275-300 is their aim, then you need Shikhar Dhawan" - Saba Karim
Saba Karim feels Team India only need Shikhar Dhawan in ODI cricket if they are satisfied with 275 to 300-run totals.
Dhawan scored three runs off eight balls in the final ODI against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Saturday, December 10. In contrast, his opening partner Ishan Kishan smoked 210 runs off just 131 balls as the Men in Blue set a mammoth 410-run target for the hosts and went on to register an emphatic 227-run win.
During a discussion on Sony Sports, Karim was asked if he sees Dhawan playing 50-over cricket going forward, to which he responded:
"It will depend on the team management, that what sort of cricket they are wanting to play. If the team management still believes that 275-300 is their aim, then you need Shikhar Dhawan because he is still that kind of a player."
The former Indian selector feels the veteran opener does not merit a spot in the playing XI if India are looking to post scores over 325. He elaborated:
"It is a different thing that he has not scored runs in this series. But if you give him an opportunity again and tell him that we have to score 275-300 only, Shikhar Dhawan's place will be there till the World Cup. But if we have decided that our par score will be 325-350, there is no place for Dhawan."
Shikhar Dhawan needs to find his form back 🤯
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Dhawan has scored his runs at an underwhelming strike rate of 74.21 this year. The left-handed opener has seen a drastic reduction in his rate of scoring, as he had a strike rate of more than 90 in each of the previous six years.
"It is not going to happen" - Saba Karim on Shikhar Dhawan playing a big knock at a strike rate of 130-140
Karim reckons Dhawan cannot play substantial knocks at high strike rates. He explained:
"So a lot will depend on the selectors and the team management, the captain, that what expectation you have. If you expect that Shikhar Dhawan will play a big knock at a strike rate of 130-140 in a 350-run game, it is not going to happen."
The cricketer-turned-commentator feels India should instead look for explosive openers like Kishan and Prithvi Shaw, saying:
"I feel in the coming times, we have to achieve a lot. I feel we are two to three years behind in white-ball cricket and to get there we will need new players, players like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Prithvi Shaw."
Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill could be the next big opening pair of India in odis. After Gambhir-Sehwag and Dhawan-Rohit. With Gaikwad, Jaiswal, Shaw as backup.
Kishan's belligerent knock on Saturday will certainly make it difficult for Dhawan to hold on to his spot in India's ODI side. Shubman Gill, who has had an excellent year at the top of the order, presents another alluring option for the team management and selectors.