Before the ODI series against New Zealand, Dinesh Karthik supported stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan to play the 2023 World Cup in India. With the youngster Shubman Gill’s rise as an opener, Karthik feels that the veteran could easily be replaced, but the team management wants to keep him in the ODI team, the only format he is playing now. He, however, has scored 567 runs in 16 ODIs at an average of 40.50. The left-hander was India’s second-highest run-scorer in West Indies and Zimbabwe as well.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said: “From the kind of vibe that I get, he is definitely a starter for the World Cup; otherwise, they wouldn’t be having him around. He’s obviously on the other side of 30. They could easily move on from him. Just the fact that they have him shows that they are very keen about having him in the ODI team and he’s been a gun player in ICC tournaments, somebody who rises to the occasion and he has played at a fair clip consistently.”
He further added: “Even in the 2019 World Cup, he really did well till he got injured. So, he’s somebody you can bank on unless something drastically changes in terms of his form completely falling out.”He is somebody whom you can trust as an opener, knows his game plan, uses his crease very well.”
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Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan loves playing in ICC tournaments as he scored a hundred against Australia before a thumb injury ruled him out of the 2019 World Cup as well.
Here’s a look at his stats in the biggest ICC events:
2019 World Cup – 125 runs in two matches @62.50
2017 Champions Trophy – 338 runs in five matches @67.60
2015 World Cup – 412 runs in eight games @51.5
2013 Champions Trophy – 363 runs in five games @90.75
Dinesh Karthik also said that Shikhar Dhawan will look forward to the opportunity to lead Team India before IPL 2023. The veteran has replaced Mayank Agarwal as Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain as well.
He said: “Most importantly, it will be for him another opportunity before the IPL to lead a team and obviously take the team forward and that will be something he’ll be really looking forward to.”
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PBKS Current squad: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar.
Players released: Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, Writtick Chatterjee.
Purse remaining ahead of mini-auction: INR 32.2 crore
