Recent exploits from Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan could mean the end of the road for Shikhar Dhawan
Over the last decade, Shikhar Dhawan has been a regular member of the Indian ODI setup. Dhawan combined with Rohit Sharma to constitute a formidable opening combination for India in the 50-over format.
Since 2018, national selectors have started looking past Dhawan in Test cricket and the southpaw has only featured in ODI cricket for India. During this period, India followed a unique approach of playing multiple formats at the same time and hence, fielded different teams.
While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have featured in Test matches, the BCCI have entrusted Dhawan with captaining the Indian one-day side on multiple tours in recent times.
Despite captaining India in ODIs for the majority of 2022, things changed drastically for Dhawan in 2023 as the Indian selectors dropped him from the ODI squad. The 37-year-old has not scored a century for India in three years, which is one of the reasons behind his exclusion.
Shikhar Dhawan’s chances of an ODI comeback look bleak
Shikhar Dhawan last scored a century in one-day internationals in 2019 but still had an impressive 2020-21 season, where he averaged close to 50. However, in 2022, the left-handed opener had a torrid time with the bat as he managed only 688 runs in 22 innings at an average of 34.40 and a strike-rate of 74.21.
Shubman Gill, on the other hand, has stamped his authority as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner, scoring 3 hundreds in his last six one-day internationals which also included a maiden double hundred. Along with Gill, left-hander Ishan Kishan has also impressed in the opener’s role scoring a double hundred in his last outing as an opener in Bangladesh.
2023 is the year of the ODI World Cup and all teams have made a conscious effort to focus on their squad for the mega tournament to be held in India later this year.
Considering the template that most teams follow in the modern era, India will look to bank upon the striking abilities of the two youngsters. Coach Rahul Dravid recently mentioned that India have zeroed in on the players in the fray for the ODIs ahead of the upcoming World Cup, which could mean Shikhar Dhawan might find it tough to make a return.