As Shikhar Dhawan gears up lead Punjab Kings in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, head coach Trevor Bayliss has backed the veteran batsman to make a comeback to the Indian team.

The left-handed batsman was dropped from India’s ODI team after the series loss in Bangladesh in December last year. He is yet to play an international game this year and the upcoming IPL will be his first high profile assignment in 2023.

Shikhar Dhawan faced the axe for his indifferent performances in the 50-over format in recent months. Since January 2021, the veteran batsman has not managed to score a single century in ODIs while his strike-rate of less than 80 has only made things worse for him. In 28 ODIs that he has played in the last couple of years, he has managed 985 runs at a strike-rate of 78.80 which is almost unacceptable in modern-day cricket.

Trevor Bayliss on Shikhar Dhawan’s comeback chances:

While it is definitely tough for Shikhar Dhawan to return to the ODI team especially after Shubman Gill’s recent performances, Bayliss has said that there is no reason why the batsman could not get back in the Indian team if he has a great IPL season in 2023.

“He is very well respected by the young players in the team. He is a very positive influence on the team and will do a fantastic job,” Bayliss told PTI.

“There is no reason he can’t (make a comeback in the Indian team). Playing at the top level first thing is you need is to be in form and scoring runs. Hopefully from our point of view he scores a truckload of runs in the next few months and force his way back in and that would be great for us and great for India as well,” Bayliss added.

IPL 2023 is scheduled to get underway on March 31. Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will begin their campaign on April 1 when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders.

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