India Tour of Sri Lanka – Shikhar Dhawan: The rise of KL Rahul in the T20Is has forced India’s other star opener Shikhar Dhawan into all but exile. With skipper Virat Kohli’s backing, he is all but certain to open in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar believes even if Dhawan scores a lot of runs, it will still be difficult for him to earn Virat Kohli’s backing and select him for the opening spot in the T20 World Cup’s playing XI.
“It’s a curious case. You almost felt like Rahul & Rohit have overtaken him but Shikhar keeps getting runs. So, he keeps the pressure on those two. Look, he has to get runs. I think he will have to put up scores. As a player, you can only do this much. I don’t know how much of a say the performance in Sri Lanka will have in team selection for T20 World Cup, all he can do is put pressure on the guys ahead of him,” Ajit Agarkar said at a virtual presser for the India Tour of Sri Lanka organised by official broadcaster Sony Sports.
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India Tour of Sri Lanka – Shikhar Dhawan: Although, down the pecking order, Shikhar Dhawan hasn’t lost hopes. He has scored runs in the ODI series and has been in excellent form in the IPL. But with Virat Kohli also putting his name forward to open with Rohit Sharma in the T20Is, the door has all but closed on Shikhar Dhawan. But Ajit Agarkar believes if someone gets injured, he has to be ready with a lot of runs to back his case and put pressure on the selectors to consider him.
“He played the 1st match of the T20 series against England and was left out. He then came back and did exceptionally well in the ODIs. He has had two really good IPLs. He is not doing anything wrong. Unfortunately, he didn’t play in the England series. So, he couldn’t make a case. But I feel KL Rahul is ahead of him and Rohit being the vice-captain will pick himself. Although Rahul has had an average series, he has been excellent in white-ball cricket. That makes it difficult for Shikhar,” Ajit Agarkar said.
India Tour of Sri Lanka: Why it is almost impossible for Shikhar Dhawan to get into ICC T20 World Cup’s Playing XI?
- KL Rahul has been India’s best T20 batsman for the last two years, making it impossible to overlook even if has a bad series. He was also the top scorer of IPL 2020.
- KL Rahul also has Virat Kohli’s backing. He publicly declared that Rahul will be top-choice for T20Is and Dhawan will only be a backup option.
- Shikhar Dhawan’s strike rate is the other problem that even Virat Kohli has talked about indirectly.
- Shikhar Dhawan contradicted Virat Kohli’s free-flowing cricket at the top order and believes staying longer is necessary for bigger totals.
- Shikhar Dhawan at 35 is edging to the twilight of his career while the team management has a lot of confidence in KL Rahul to take the mantle in future.
- Dhawan is also competing with a plethora of young talents in Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Nitish Rana.
Hence, the India Tour of Sri Lanka will be even more crucial for Shikhar Dhawan. He will be under pressure to not only lead the side against a weaker opponent but also to perform and be in contention.
India Tour of Sri Lanka Schedule: The 1st ODI will be played on July 18 in Colombo and all the matches will be broadcast live on Live On SONY TEN 1 & SONY TEN 1 HD, SONY SIX & SONY SIX HD, SONY TEN 3 & SONY TEN 3 HD (Hindi), SONY TEN 4 & SONY TEN 4 HD (Tamil & Telugu).
| India’s tour of Sri Lanka, 2021 – ODI series: Timing 3 PM | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 18th July | 1st ODI | Colombo |
| 2 | 20th July | 2nd ODI | Colombo |
| 3 | 23rd July | 3rd ODI | Colombo |
| India’s tour of Sri Lanka, 2021 – T20I series: Timing 8 PM | |||
| S.No. | Date | Match | Venue |
| 1 | 25th July | 1st T20I | Colombo |
| 2 | 27th July | 2nd T20I | Colombo |
| 3 | 29th July | 3rd T20I | Colombo |
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