India’s veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan has opened up on his omission from the 50-overs team. Shubman Gill has grabbed his opportunity at the top of the order with Rohit Sharma and as Dhawan could not perform consistently, he was left out of the squad.
Gill has been in brilliant form in 2023 amassing 624 runs in nine innings at an average of 78, including two centuries and a double-hundred. The youngster scored 360 runs in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand and scored 207 runs against Sri Lanka, earlier in the year.
On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan scored 591 runs in 18 matches in the last 12 months at an average of 31.81. Dhawan would have given a chance to Shubman Gill over himself if he had been the Indian team selector.
Gill has scored 1311 runs in 24 ODIs at an average of 65.55 and he has ticked the right boxes in the 50-overs format. Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, has scored 6793 runs in 167 ODI matches at an average of 44.11.
Shikhar Dhawan said while talking to Aaj Tak, “I feel the way Shubman is (playing at the moment). Like he was playing two formats and performing well in Tests and T20s. He was playing more matches in the international circuit and I wasn’t.”
“If I was the selector then definitely would have give the chance to Shubman. Would have selected Shubman over Shikhar.”
Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan has all the experience under his belt and he would want to be at his best in the upcoming Indian Premier League. Dhawan will lead Punjab Kings in IPL 2023 and he would look to lead from the front.
Punjab Kings will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Saturday.
