During the recent England tour, India had two teams in action simultaneously once again. While members of the Twenty20 squad had two games in Ireland, the Test team was playing a four-day practice match against Leicestershire, followed by the much-delayed Edgbaston Test. The side also put up an impressive show in West Indies ODIs – a testament to India’s strength and depth of its cricket system. Also Read | ‘Seems like Virat might be dropped for Asia Cup too’: Ex-Pakistan star tears into BCCI, calls out ‘injustice’ for Kohli
Led by Shikhar Dhawan, the team produced a complete performance in India’s 3-0 series whitewash of the West Indies. Dhawan also became the first-ever Indian captain to whitewash the Caribbean side in its own backyard. The seasoned batter had also captained in Sri Lanka last year, where a relatively inexperienced India tasted white-ball success.
A proven performer in the IPL, Dhawan has also raised his hand for a return to the shorter format. In another impressive IPL spell with the bat, having notched up over 400 runs for Punjab Kings this year. The current competition in the Indian team makes it tough for him to secure a place in the Twenty20 side. But former India fielding coach R Sridhar believes he is indispensable when it comes to the 50-over format.
Sridhar lavished praise on India’s depth, giving them the luxury of having multiple teams at the highest level. Talking about Dhawan, he said that the seasoned batter has improved his fitness with a better understanding of the sport, which makes him a certainty in the ODI format. Sridhar backed the 36-year-old to play the 2023 World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by India in October and November
“I think we are already down that road where we will have multiple teams. We already saw last year that there was a white-ball team in Sri Lanka and it competed extremely well. With the advent of IPL, we have that kind of luxury of fielding two or even three teams which can compete at the highest level. Why not make the most of it? We have entertaining cricketers who would put bums on seats and get eyeballs on television as well,” Sridhar told cricket.com.
“About Dhawan, he has been invaluable to Indian cricket for the last eight or nine years, especially in white-ball format. He has been a great foil to both Rohit and Virat. These two guys have been exceptional at the top and Dhawan has got a huge role to play being a left-hander. He has carved a niche for himself as a reliable opening batter. His fitness is probably better than what it was a few years ago. He also understands the game better,” said Sridhar.
Dhawan will lead the 15-member squad which travels to Zimbabwe for the three-match ODI series slated to take place this month.
“When it comes to ODI cricket, we don’t want to look beyond him too much or at least till the 2023 World Cup, and in the shorter format, he is a back-up better. He gives his IPL teams 400-plus runs every season, but whereas the Indian team is concerned, he is going nowhere till the 2023 World Cup, in my opinion,” Sridhar elaborated.
