The veteran Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan is one of the big names who has been overlooked by the Indian selection committee for the upcoming T20 World Cup. However, chief selector Chetan Sharma has maintained that the southpaw has been rested and he remains a very important part of India’s limited-overs set up. The 35-year-old opener had led the Indian team in the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka in July.

During a virtual press conference, Chetan Sharma said, “Shikhar Dhawan is a very important player for us, he was the captain in Sri Lanka. What discussion happened I cannot disclose. He is important and he is there in the loop. But the need of the hour was that we look at other players and give Shikhar Dhawan some rest, otherwise he is an important player and he will be back very soon.”

Shikhar Dhawan has not been picked with KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Kishan selected as the three openers.

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Describing the same, Chetan Sharma said, “We have three openers — Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Ishan Kishan, who can bat as an opener and can also fit into the middle order. It is up to the team management if they want Kohli to open the batting, but as of now, we have picked three openers. Virat is an asset to the team. When he bats in the middle order, the team plays around him. But as I said, it all depends on what the situation is at that point in time.”

For the past few months, there have been fitness concerns surrounding Hardik Pandya, however, he was seen bowling in the white-ball series against Sri Lanka recently, but he was looking at his best. Chief selector Chetan Sharma on Wednesday said that the star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will bowl the full quota of his overs during the upcoming T20 World Cup.

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Elaborating the same, Chetan Sharma said, “Hardik is fit and he will bowl the full quota of his overs. We have Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, so that was the main point, if the wickets are turning, then you have Axar and Jadeja with you. Hardik Pandya is one of the leading all-rounders India have, so the main aim was to just pack the team with all-rounders.”