The veteran Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan had long been India’s mainstay limited-overs cricket, better known for his batting exploits in ICC tournaments. But his dwindling form over the last year or more, amid the rise of young talent, saw Dhawan lose his place in the Indian team. He last played for India in December 2022 and is presently out of the reckoning for a place in the ODI World Cup team.
However, when asked upfront, if he could have picked himself in the current ODI XI over Shubman Gill, who eventually replaced him, Dhawan’s blockbuster response left the reporter astounded.
Dhawan had long fallen out of reckoning in the T20I side, having failed to make it to the 2021 T20 World Cup team. His only hope was the ODIs with the World Cup at home around the corner and being a southpaw top-order batter, it always gave him the edge.
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However, his topsy-turvy run throughout 2022 saw him losing his spot to young Gill, who made a solid impression with his performances in the tour of West Indies and Zimbabwe before smashing a record double ton against New Zealand at home earlier in January this year.
In an interview with Aaj Tak, Dhawan was asked if he was the selector of the team or the captain and was picking the side, how many more chances would he have given himself. The veteran India batter snubbed himself to give a stunning response on Gill saying: “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.”
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The reporter further clarified asking that Shikhar Dhawan wouldn’t have picked himself and would have gone with Gill instead and the India star responded with a simple “Yes”, leaving the journalist astonished at the remark. Gill has been in terrific form in ODI cricket. In 2023, he scored 624 runs in just nine innings at 78 with three centuries and one fifty.
