For anyone to imagine that Shikhar Dhawan could make a comeback in India's T20 squad and even open with captain Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup later in Australia, for There have to be some incredible turns.
Injury, unavailability due to Covid-19 or any other reason, heavy fall in the form of backup openers like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson - all of them are entirely possible at the moment to pave the way for the 36-year-old. Dhawan will play directly in the T20 World Cup. Because of his quality and experience there is no doubt that he can find a place in India's line-up directly.
Not to forget that India have tried 7 different openers - 6 apart from Rohit Sharma - in T20I 2022. And the first choice designated opener KL Rahul has not played a single T20I match. This year first because of rest and then because of injuries and illness.
Here are 3 reasons why Shikhar Dhawan might still make a comeback in India's T20 World Cup squad:
Experience
There is no substitute for experience or that one cannot take it away from a player. The 36-year-old has seen it all in international cricket with success and failure in all three formats.
Diving deeper into this experience aspect - Dhawan has achieved considerable success in limited-overs cricket in Australian conditions: In 9 T20Is in Australia, where the T20 World Cup will be played, Dhawan's numbers are great. : Average 33 and strike rate 153 and has scored 2 fifties in 8 T20I innings.
In ODIs in Australia, Dhawan has been excellent: averaging 39 in 21 ODIs, including 2 centuries and 4 fifties.
compatibility
Now coming to the crucial part that goes in Dhawan's favor but has been ignored by the national selectors and management: Dhawan's IPL continuity.
Whether he is in the national team, praised or criticized – Dhawan just keeps on scoring runs in the IPL: he has scored over 450 runs in each IPL season since 2016, and surprisingly, it was during this time. He was dropped from India's T20I squad.
Great equation with Rohit Sharma
Ever since they were added as openers in 2013, Dhawan and Sharma have enjoyed immense success together as openers in limited overs cricket. They have very good on-field and off-the-field equations and understand each other very well.
Sharma is indeed someone who has been involved in a lot of runouts during his career but with Dhawan, due to the understanding developed between them from years of experience batting together at the top, the pair clicks well .
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