Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan had a productive outing with Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2022. Although PBKS failed to reach the Playoff this season as well, Dhawan was the leading run-scorer for the side with 460 runs from 14 matches with three fifties and a best of 88 not out.
Dhawan is currently the 4th highest run-getter in IPL 2022 behind Jos Buttler, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock. However, it came as a shock to his fans when Dhawan was omitted from the Indian team for the five-match T20 series against South Africa in June.
An 18-member team was announced on Sunday (May 22) by the BCCI that would host South Africa for a five-match T20I series. As per a report on InsideSport, Dhawan was informed by India coach Rahul Dravid about it ahead of the announcement. A source close to the developments said it was a tough call, but everyone agree that youngsters should be given an opportunity.
“Shikhar has been a great servant of Indian cricket for over a decade. But in T20s, you have to give chances to youngsters who have been doing well. Rahul had to make the tough call and we all agreed. Shikhar was informed by Rahul before the team was announced on Sunday,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.IN website.
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The source also pointed that there are too many top-order players waiting in the queue to get selected and Dhawan is not one of them. “The plan has been simple. When you have Ruturaj, Ishan, KL besides Sanju amongst many other top-order batter, it gets difficult. Rahul has a clear idea of what he wants. Of course, we all have respect for Shikhar and that is why he made a call to inform him that, he will not be in T20 plans anymore,” the BCCI official said.
This could also mean the end of the road for the veteran opener, who was the captain of the T20 side against Sri Lanka in a limited-overs series last year.
