Shikhar Dhawan last appeared in a Test match over three years ago in India’s tour of England in 2018. Former India Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Shikhar Dhawan could have had a longer run in Tests had he been treated better by the team management.
The out-of-favour opening batsman last appeared in a Test match over three years ago in India’s tour of England in 2018. Since then the left-handed batter has not been considered in the longer format of the game. He managed 162 runs at an underwhelming average of 20.25 in the four Tests he played against England in the 2018 tour.
Aakash Chopra Feels Shikhar Dhawan Could Have Been Treated Slightly Better
Shikhar Dhawan has so far played 34 Tests and scored 2,315 runs with seven centuries under his belt at an average of 40.61. Soon after the 2018 England tour, the left-handed southpaw was ditched for younger guys like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Shubman Gill.
“Test career, in my opinion, was the England tour where, to be very honest, it was not right. He could have been treated slightly better. He was played in the first match, was not played in the second, played the third, and then they dropped him.”
“It just did not go right. He could have played continuous matches; they were changing repeatedly, and that does not go down well. Personally, that’s my issue,” said the former India cricketer.
Shikhar Dhawan was not picked for the Lord’s Test after he was dismissed on 39 in both the innings at Edgbaston. KL Rahul, who came to bat at No. 3 in the series opener then, was promoted to open with Murali Vijay at Lord’s and Cheteshwar Pujara was included in the playing XI.
Shikhar Dhawan Whose Form Deteriorated Was Handed A Lifeline After Being Included In 18 Member Squad For South Africa ODIs
Shikhar Dhawan last appeared in a limited-overs game for India in July, in the tour of Sri Lanka. Despite an impressive performance in the first leg of IPL 2021, a poor return in both the formats in the Sri Lanka tour saw him miss his place for the T20 World Cup.
His form deteriorated further in the second leg of the IPL 2021, in the UAE, and then in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy as well where he scored just 56 runs in five innings at 11.20 which included a duck as well. Shikhar Dhawan though has been handed a lifeline with the selectors adding him to the 18-member squad for the South Africa series.
Shikhar Dhawan will have to play some substantial knocks against the Proteas to hold on to his spot as he will fight for the opening spot with KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Ishan Kishan in the fray.
Shikhar Dhawan had a good outing in IPL 2021 scoring 587 runs in 16 games averaging 39.13 finishing as 4th highest run-scorer after Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, and KL Rahul. In IPL 2020 too, he finished as second-highest run-scorer after KL Rahul with 618 runs in 17 games averaging 44.14.
Shikhar Dhawan averages a high 45.56 amassing 6105 runs in 145 ODIs with 17 tons. He averaged 56.33 and 64 in the last two ODI series against England at home and in Sri Lanka.
Full Squad For South Africa ODIs: KL Rahul (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, R Ashwin, W Sundar, J Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj.