Shikhar Dhawan accumulated 460 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2022 for Punjab Kings.
The announcement of the Indian squad for their upcoming 5-match T20 series against South Africa raised a lot of questions as many of the expected names were not included in the 18-member squad.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami were rested, while KL Rahul was named the skipper of the Indian team for the series that begins on 9th June.
Two uncapped players, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh got their maiden call-up for the national team based on their performances in the IPL 2022.
While Dinesh Karthik has been called back for his magnificent performance in IPL 15, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was also included in the squad after showing his fitness in the IPL 2022 for Gujarat Titans.
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While these decisions were foreseeable, some of the calls taken by the selectors met with raised eyebrows, the main one being the omission of SRH batter Rahul Tripathi and senior Indian cricketer and PBKS opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Talking about the omission of his former Indian teammate Dhawan, former India player Suresh Raina said that he must be disappointed with this decision, especially after the batting form he has exhibited in IPL 2022.
"Obviously, Shikhar would have been disappointed. Every captain wants a player like him in the team. He is a fun-loving person who brightens up the environment. And he has always scored runs - be it domestic, international or T20. If you've brought Dinesh Karthik back in the team, Shikhar Dhawan deserved a place too. He has performed runs the last 3-4 years and has scored runs non-stop. Somewhere deep down, he must be sad," Raina said on Star Sports.
From 2016 to 2021, Dhawan scored minimum of 500 runs in each season of the IPL, playing for different teams. He amassed 460 runs in IPL 2022, with an average of 38.33 and 3 half-centuries to his name.
(Star Sports inputs)