Shikhar Dhawan will the captain of the Indian team for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe. Dhawan led the squad which had secured a 3-0 whitewash against West Indies in ODIs. Apart from the leadership qualities, Dhawan also exhibited sublime batting against West Indies. Former India fielding coach R Sridhar opened up on Dhawan’s brilliance against the Caribbean opponents. Sridhar feels that Dhawan has been a key asset to Team India in recent times.
“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,” Sridhar told cricket.com.
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Sridhar feels that in the 50-overs format, Indian team management will not look beyond Dhawan till the 2023 World Cup. Though, according to Sridhar, Dhawan is considered as a backup option in T20Is.
Dhawan did make a comeback to ODI squad recently but his last T20I appearance took place last year. Dhawan’s last T20I fixture was against Sri Lanka in July 2021. He was in good touch in the IPL 2022 season. The Punjab Kings opener scored 460 runs in 14 matches. He bagged three half centuries in the 15th season of IPL.
Dhawan played a fabulous knock of 97 against West Indies in the opening ODI game. In the final match, he scored a half century as Team India clinched a comfortable 119-run victory to seal the series.
Overall, the 36-year-old batter has scored 6493 runs at an average of 45.40. Dhawan has represented India 155 times in ODIs and he has 17 centuries and 37 half centuries to his name. In T20Is, he has bagged 1759 runs at a strike rate of 126.36. Dhawan has 11 half centuries in his kitty in the shortest format of the game.
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