Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar has pointed out that Shikhar Dhawan, who didn’t had a great outing in the T20I series, would be the only concern for India going into the ODI series. He also expressed that Hardik Pandya would be crucial for India with both bat and ball and insisted that Jasprit Bumrah’s absence would be felt.
India started their tour of the United Kingdom (UK) in a fantastic style with a couple of thunderous victories against Ireland at the Malahide Cricket Ground in Dublin. The Men in Blue carried their form in the T20I series against England as well and Virat Kohli and his men dominatingly won the series by 2-1. However, despite the victories, Shikhar Dhawan’s failure at the top could not be overlooked.
Gavaskar wrote about Dhawan’s form in his column for TOI, he wrote, “In batting, the only concern is Shikhar Dhawan who didn’t score many in the T20 series but he relishes the 50 over format. Now that the T20 series has been done with and both teams have flexed their muscles and showed a glimpse of what to expect, comes the ODI series. The extra 30 overs makes a big difference for there is time for recovery for both the batting and bowling teams even from tough situations.”
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Just before the India series, England whitewashed Australia 5-0 and even registered the highest ODI total of 481. England dominated Australia and claim the number 1 ODI spot. Gavaskar appreciated the character of the English team.
The legendary batsman wrote: “England have just completed a whitewash of the Australians and while the Aussies were not a full-strength team, especially in the bowling, it is the win in the final One-dayer where Jos Buttler along with the last two batsmen got 90-odd runs to take England home that showed the character of this England team.”
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Considering the fact that English summer has been witnessing weather conditions more like India, wickets have been batting friendly, with little assistance to spinners. Talking about the same, Gavaskar wrote, “India too will be thinking whether to go with both Chahal and Kuldeep or just pick one spinner. Of course, if the weather stays bright and sunny, there’s more chance for the spinners on a dry pitch to get the ball to grip and turn.”
