Dhawan’s future in limbo after Ishan’s strong performance as opener
Ishan Kishan has emerged as a strong option as an opener after scoring a double century in the third ODI against Bangladesh and veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has been out of form for some time after the formation of the new selection committee, has been replaced by the Indian team. There will be a discussion about the future of Dhawan has struggled badly in eight of his last nine ODIs. The Delhi left-handed batsman is batting slow in the power play overs which is proving to be detrimental to the team. In the era of T20, Dhawan has been seen pale in front of the aggressive batting of Shubman Gill and Ishan.
After the ODI series loss in Bangladesh, the BCCI will hold a review meeting of the team’s performance. It will discuss the future roadmap with head coach Dravid and NCA (National Cricket Academy) chief VVS Laxman. PTI had reported during the T20 World Cup in Australia, quoting a reliable source in the board, that the process of dropping experienced players would start from next year. A senior BCCI source told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ on the condition of confidentiality, “The decision on the future of Shikhar will be taken only after the formation of the new selection committee.” But in this matter the views of head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma cannot be ignored.
The biggest problem with Dhawan is that he is not able to score fast runs at the beginning of the innings. Before 2019 World Cup his strike rate used to be more than 100 while in 2022 his strike rate is 75. Ishan Kishan’s double century and more importantly, he gave the team the attacking attitude it needed. After his innings, the team management will be forced to consider selection matters. It is not easy to drop a player who has played 167 ODIs. He is India’s third highest run scorer in the current team after Rohit (9454) and Virat Kohli (12471). He has 6793 runs in this format.
The other consideration in this case is that Dhawan should be given a chance in at least six ODIs against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in January and then based on his performance, a decision should be taken on the ODI series against Australia in late March. . Shubman Gill also cannot be ignored in this matter. Gill has been India’s most consistent ODI batsman in the last six months. For some strange reason, the outgoing committee led by Chetan Sharma decided to rest Gill from the Bangladesh ODIs. Despite not being a part of the T20 Asia Cup or World Cup squads, the decision to rest the young batsman was inexplicable. India haven’t even played a longer format match since a Test against England in July.
When batsmen like Gill and Kishan are waiting for their turn in the team, it will be difficult to keep them out for long. The team has to bear the brunt of fielding aging players like Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli in the same ODI XI. It is like Rohit, Lokesh Rahul and Kohli are the top three batsmen in T20 Internationals. Of late, Kohli has been preferring to hold one end rather than attack. In such a situation, there is pressure on the batsman of the other end to score fast runs. Rohit has also failed to bat aggressively for some time now. Another problem for Dhawan is that he is playing only in the ODI format.
In the last four years, he has not played too many matches in domestic cricket. A former selector of the Indian team said, “There is no substitute for playing time. Do you mean to say that Shikhar will start playing ODIs in mid-January without any match practice for the next one month. Even a batsman like Suryakumar Yadav is determined to play Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai to stay in shape. There is a lot of curiosity on Rohit’s future as captain and the rise of Hardik Pandya in T20 Internationals. The BCCI decides on its own conscience instead of the sentiments of the public, in such a situation, at present, the reins of captaincy in every format seem to be with Rohit. From January 3 to February 1, India will play 12 limited overs matches in a span of 29 days. This includes six matches against New Zealand and six against Sri Lanka.
Also read: Henderson decides to step down as head of Cricket Australia, Baird to be next president
Meanwhile, the ODI squad may have players who the team management feels will be a part of the 2023 World Cup. A former BCCI official said, “Why do you need to remove Rohit from T20 captaincy? Are T20 Internationals the top priority in 2023? No. BCCI has never acted according to public sentiments. It has its own style of functioning. “He said,” Yes, you can ask Rohit, Virat and Lokesh Rahul to focus on ODI and Test series against Australia which are more important at the moment and Hardik should play six T20 matches. Let me lead.
