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Virat Kohli Fought For The Inclusion Of Shikhar Dhawan During England Series?
By CricShots - Sep 17, 2021 12:27 pm
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The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli reportedly had an argument with the selectors in order to include Shikhar Dhawan for the ODI series against England earlier this year. The left-handed opener was out of favor with the national selectors. However, Virat Kohli asserted that Dhawan’s place in the side is a ‘must’.

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Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli decided to resign from his captaincy duties in the T20I format on September 16. He stated workload management as the primary reason behind his decision of resigning. However, certain sources believe that the Indian skipper had a poor relationship with the selectors.

One of the reports of Crucbuzz suggested, “Much of it could be put down to what transpired during India’s home series against England. Dhawan wasn’t considered by the newly-appointed (at that time) selection committee even in his best format, the ODIs. They were looking at grooming potential prospects for the future.”

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It further added, “One of their main choices was an opener who had performed well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Although the player’s name isn’t revealed according to the reports, it’s assumed to be either Prithvi Shaw or Devdutt Padikkal. However, 32-year-old Kohli insisted on having Dhawan as the partner of Rohit Sharma at the top.”

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Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan

The report further elaborated, “The debate got heated during the March meetings. The squad was already picked but the BCCI waited for five days to make the announcement since a general consensus hadn’t been reached. Sources in the know believe that this is just a one-off occurrence and that the management and Kohli stand on good terms.”

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Reports from PTI have hinted at the fact that experienced campaigner Rohit Sharma will don the captaincy role after the T20 World Cup. Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and KL Rahul are in the line of becoming the deputy skipper in T20I being considered for the vice-captain role.

Since Rohit is at the fag end of his career, the aforementioned trio will be expected to be groomed for the future leadership role. For the time being, the BCCI has no intentions of announcing the vice-captain. They are likely to wait until the ICC event is over.