India vs England T20Is: Pressure piles up on Shikhar Dhawan to retain his T20I spot.
India vs England T20Is: Young Ishan Kishan succeeding in his debut game as an opener may put up pressure on Shikhar Dhawan to retain his opening spot in the Indian T20I side ahead of the T20 World Cup that is slated in October-November this year in India.
In the previous two T20I’s against England, Virat Kohli and management tried two opening combination. Opener Rohit Sharma was rested and will be the first choice opener for the T20 World Cup later this year. However, the place for the second opener is still not confirmed.
India tried to come-up with KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in the first T20I, but the combination failed to score runs and provide a good start to the Indian side. KL Rahul scored a single run while Shikhar Dhawan scored 12 balls four.
Shikhar Dhawan who was consistent in India’s blue colour for years was dropped from the playing 11 in the second T20I against England and young debutant Ishan Kishan was given an opportunity along with KL Rahul.
While from one end Ishan Kishan used his chance to make a dream debut, KL Rahul from other continued poor run as he was dismissed by Sam Curran for nought.
Now, it is unlikely that left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan will return to the Indian side unless Rohit Sharma extends his resting period. Virat Kohli will bring back Rohit Sharma in the playing 11 in the 3rd T20I against England while the other end will be occupied with his Mumbai Indians counterpart Ishan Kishan.
Dhawan in the Australia series helped India to chase 195 runs in the first T20I scoring 52 runs off 36 balls. However, since then he has undergone multiple failures up the order.
Shikhar Dhawan T20I series in past months:
Prior to the lockdown period, Shikhar Dhawan had missed to play T20I series against New Zealand. KL Rahul took the opportunity and scored good runs with Rohit Sharma and the pair looked first choice contenders for opening in the T20 World Cup.
In his return to the Indian side in Australia, Dhawan had just one good game. In the absence of Rohit Sharma in the Australia tour, Dhawan amassed 1, 52, 28 and 4 int he four T20I innings.
Talking about Dhawan’s domestic run lately, the results aren’t encouraging either. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games, he scored 23, 5, 77 and 0. The recent Vijay Hazare Trophy was also unfruitful for him as scores 0, 6, 0, 153 and 44 sums up the story.
However, the left-handed opener had a brilliant season of IPL in UAE. Playing for Delhi Capitals, Dhawan scored 618 runs with two back to back centuries.
It will not be a good option for Indian management to drop him from the white ball squad. He will be around the squad and in contention for the opener’s spot for the ICC T20 World Cup.
It will be interesting to watch if he gets enough opportunity to prove his worth again to the management. Vivo IPL 2021 will be a deciding factor whether he will be the opener or he will get dropped again.
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