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Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid backed me but Shubman Gill lived up to their expectations, admits Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid backed me but Shubman Gill lived up to their expectations, admits Shikhar Dhawan
- Shikhar Dhawan last played an ODI in December 2022
- Shubman Gill has scored 3 hundreds in his last 10 outings
- Dhawan will captain PBKS in the upcoming IPL 2023
India batter Shikhar Dhawan has revealed that while Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid backed him, he lost his place from the One-Day International (ODI) side because Shubman Gill "lived up to their expectations."
Once a regular member of the ODI squad for Team India, Dhawan suffered a dip in form and lost his place in January.
With the 50-over World Cup coming up this year in October-November, India captain Rohit and head coach Dravid asked Dhawan to concentrate on the ICC event, which India are going to host. However, he has been unable to make his way back into the team, courtesy of Gill's consistency across formats.
"When Rohit took over the captaincy he along with Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup.
"2022 was very good for me, I was consistent in ODIs. But there is this young guy who has been doing well in two formats, and when my form dipped in a series or two then they gave a chance to Shubman and he has lived up to their expectations," Dhawan told Aaj Tak.
Gill, who made his international debut in 2019, has scored three centuries in his last 10 outings for India across formats.
Dhawan, who has been playing ODIs since 2010, went on to reveal that he got scared when another opener Ishan Kishan hit an ODI double century last year against Bangladesh as he thought he could very well be out of the ODI side now.
"We are used to such a situation. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, then for a moment I thought I could be out of the team," said Dhawan.
The 37-year-old southpaw, who last played for India in December 2022, also stressed that his current state isn't a thing new thing in cricket as several cricketers have gone through a similar situation. Dhawan also said that when the team management takes such a decision they put in a lot of thought.
"This is not something new in cricket. Or this happened just with me, plenty of others have met with the same fate. There are times when you play well throughout the year and then your form drops for one month or two, sometimes that becomes bigger than your performance throughout the year. When a captain, coach and selector take a decision they put plenty of thoughts into it," said Dhawan.
Dhawan will captain Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the upcoming IPL 2023. PBKS, who have never won the IPL title, will begin their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 1 in Mohali.
