Shikhar Dhawan, the left-handed opening batter was an India regular in the shortest format of the game till July last year. Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the best batters in India’s history, having scored above 10,000 international runs across Tests, T20Is and ODIs.
When it comes to his stats in T20Is alone, he has scored an outstanding 1,759 runs at a decent average of 27.92. He has scored 11 fifties in just 66 innings, in which he has smacked 191 boundaries and 50 sixes.
Shikhar Dhawan Was Dropped From the 2021 T20I World Cup Squad
There have been a significant number of changes in India’s T20I setup over the past year. The emergence of youngsters in the Indian Premier League, coupled with breaks to all-format players has seen many new faces cementing their places in the squad. As a result, a number of senior players have either lost, or are facing significant competition for their places. Shikhar Dhawan is among the former.
However, Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the 2021 T20 World Cup squad and his international appearances have since been limited to ODIs. Since the 2021 T20I World Cup, Shikhar Dhawan played in the ODI series against South Africa in January and further took part in the last 3rd ODI against West Indies earlier this month.
Shikhar Dhawan, the left-handed batsman was leading the Men in Blue just two months back against Sri Lanka but found no favour when it came to the ICC event of the 2021 T20I World Cup. He wasn’t even there on the standby list. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prithvi Shaw, and Yuzvendra Chahal were some notable omissions from the 2021 T20I World Cup squad.
Shikhar Dhawan was a part of the Indian team that toured Sri Lanka, playing all 6 matches on the tour. He registered scores of 86*, 29, 13 in the 3 ODIs and 46, 40, 0 in the 3 T20Is.
Shikhar Dhawan Might Be Considered For 2022 T20I World Cup Reckons Former Pakistan Tainted Skipper Salman Butt
However, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes that Shikhar Dhawan “might be considered” for the T20 World Cup later this year, which is scheduled to take place in Australia.
“It is possible. He was in good form in the last series (against South Africa). He played with fluency. In Australia, in the ODI World Cup, he was very successful on those pitches,” said Butt on his official YouTube channel.
“He plays very well on the backfoot. His pull and cut shots on the backfoot are brilliant. So he might be considered.”
Shikhar Dhawan scored two half-centuries in three ODIs during the tour of South Africa. Ahead of the series against West Indies, the opener had tested positive for Covid-19 and was forced to miss the first two games before making a return for the final ODI.
India have an abundance of openers in the T20I squad; while captain Rohit Sharma justifiably cements one spot, the likes of KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan have opened alongside him over the past few months. In addition, Ruturaj Gaikwad has also been a part of the India squad.