Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the side following a lean patch with the bat.© AFP
Veteran opening batter Shikhar Dhawan has dropped down in the pecking order due to the rise of youngsters, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, as far as the Indian team is concerned. Dhawan, who was a mainstay in the team for nearly seven years, was dropped from the side following a lean patch with the bat. Sharing his views on the sudden axing, Dhawan said that since he was only playing ODIs, Gill’s heroics across formats were too good to be ignored.
The 37-year-old suggested that while he had the backing of head coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma, Kishan’s double hundred against Bangladesh in December last year made him realise that he could lose his spot in the Indian team.
“When Rohit took over the captaincy he along with Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup. 2022 was very good for me, I was consistent in ODIs. But there is this young guy who has been doing well in two formats, and when my form dipped in a series or two then they gave a chance to Shubman and he has lived up to their expectation. We are used to such situations. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, then for a moment I thought I could be out of the team,” Dhawan told AajTak in an interview.
Dhawan further suggested that players often get dropped from the team due to a lean patch, and his case isn’t any different.
“This is not something new in cricket. Or this happened just with me, plenty others have met with same fate. There are times when you play well throughout the year and then your form drops for a month or two, sometimes that becomes bigger than your performance throughout the year. When a captain, coach and selector take a decision they put plenty of thoughts into it,” he added.
Dhawan will now be seen in action during the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League, where he will the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
PBKS will open their campaign against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, April 1.
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