Shikhar Dhawan, who recently led the Indian team in the white-ball series against Sri Lanka in July, is now fighting for a spot in the national ODI team for the upcoming three-match series in South Africa.
The veteran left-hander, who has 6105 runs in 145 ODIs with 17 centuries and 33 fifties at an average of 45.55 and strike-rate of 93.79, is seeing stiff competition from Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer, and Prithvi Shaw.
Former BCCI chief selector Saba Karim feels the seasoned opener will find it difficult to make the cut.
"Even if Dhawan is there in the squad, will he be part of the playing XI? KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have opened in Tests and T20s, so I think they will open in ODIs as well. So, if you are including Dhawan in the squad and not playing him, should he be in the team?
I don't see the point of his inclusion, what is the need? The only thing possible is the left-hand-right-hand combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. It has been a formidable partnership as well," he said on the Khelneeti podcast on YouTube.
With recent scores of 0, 12, 14, 18 in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Dhawan has looked out of sorts. On the other hand, Ruturaj has slammed three consecutive centuries and Venkatesh Iyer has scored two tons and is picking wickets as well.
On Dhawan's chances to be in contention for the opening slot, Karim said, "It would be difficult for Shikhar Dhawan to come back into this side. I still think that he should be given one more opportunity because he is a big player with experience. Have to see what the selectors and the team management think. I don't think Delhi will qualify for the knockouts, so Dhawan has to prove by scoring runs and he only has one more match to do so.”
However, reports have suggested that Shikhar Dhawan might get picked for SA ODIs as "one last chance" to prove himself.
"Technically, last time India played 50-over series, Dhawan was leading India and also had a match-winning knock in Sri Lanka. He has the ability to score runs just when he has back to the wall. So while Gaikwad should be there in the squad, I think selectors might give one last chance to Dhawan, maybe take him and give him a game or two," a BCCI source privy to selection committee discussion told PTI.
