Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth has advised for looking beyond Shikhar Dhawan for the next T20 World Cup, which has been scheduled in Australia in 2020. Currently, the opener is recovering from injury and therefore is out from T20I squad for the home series against West Indies.
Shikhar Dhawan’s form in T20I is worrying
Indian national cricket team has a big task to build up a challenging team for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. The team management and selectors are finding the combination which can give the best output in the next T20 World Cup. The opener Shikhar Dhawan has now become a concern for the team because of his form in the shortest format.
In the last T20I series against Bangladesh, Dhawan had a lesser impact on the team’s performances. In the decider match of that series, the player lost his wicket early after just scoring 19 runs against Bangladesh. His performance can be a worrying factor for the team ahead of T20 World Cup 2020.
Kris Srikkanth advise for the Indian team
The former cricketer Kris Srikkanth has cautioned to firmly place KL Rahul as the opener in place of experienced Shikhar Dhawan. According to him, KL Rahul will be a better option for the upcoming big assignment.
“The hosts (India) …. need to slot KL Rahul firmly as an opener and look beyond Dhawan. The need of the hour is instant firepower, and that’s one area where India is lacking. Of course, there is (Virat) Kohli and other talents to make up, but that might not be enough on the big day, as the team has found out in many ICC tournaments over the last few years.” Srikkanth wrote in his column for The Times of India.
KL Rahul has shown impressive performance on the domestic side. The Karnataka opener played big innings to lead the team to victory in Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophies. Rahul has earned the call-up for both in the T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming home series against West Indies. He might get the chance in final XI after seeing his performance in the domestic circuit.