Unsurprisingly, Shikhar Dhawan was not selected for India’s World Cup 2023 squad that was announced on September 5. The southpaw opener has been out of Team India’s scheme of things since last year. However, Dhawan has time and again proved himself to be a big match player and has been hailed as ‘Mr. ICC’ for his performances in multi-nation events (World Cup, Asia Cup, Champions Trophy).
The Indian management seems to have moved on from him, but will the decision come to haunt them? Let’s take a deep dive to see how Dhawan has performed in big tournaments to determine whether India will struggle without their dependable opener:
Is Shikhar Dhawan’s exclusion from the World Cup 2023 squad the right call?
Dhawan has an incredible record in ODI cricket. In his 12-year career, he has made 6793 runs at an average of 44.11. The left-hander also has 17 centuries and 39 fifties to his name in 164 innings.
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In the ICC ODI World Cups (2015 and 2019), Dhawan has made 537 runs in 8 innings. His average goes up from 44.11 to 53.70 in ODI World Cups. The Southpaw also has 3 centuries and one fifty to his name in these 8 matches. Compared to his career average of scoring 50 or more in every three innings, Dhawan scores 50 or more every second inning he plays in the ODI World Cup. His career conversion rate of 30% also improved to a whopping 75% at the big event.
The former Indian skipper averages 65 in the four ICC ODI events he’s played and has 6 centuries and 4 fifties to his name in 20 matches.
| Multi-nation Tournaments | No. of Matches | Runs | Average | Centuries |
| Champions Trophy 2013 | 5 | 363 | 90.75 | 2 |
| Asia Cup 2014 | 4 | 192 | 42 | – |
| World Cup 2015 | 8 | 412 | 51.50 | 2 |
| Champions Trophy 2017 | 5 | 338 | 67.60 | 1 |
| Asia Cup 2018 | 5 | 342 | 68.40 | 2 |
| World Cup 2019 | 2 | 125 | 62.50 | 1 |
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