India played 24 ODIs in 2022, Shikhar Dhawan featured in 22 of them, being the highest number of appearances in the same year by an India in the 50-over games. He also led India in 9 of those contests, one north of Rohit Sharma.
However. Dhawan was not considered for the ODI squad that featured against New Zealand after a slump in his form towards the latter half of the year. In 2022, from 34 games, he managed to smash 688 runs at an average of 34, which has been deemed below par considering his career average of 44.11.
However, despite the abandonment of the numbers, Shikhar Dhawan still remains to be an elemental force in the Indian echelons and the southpaw has already been putting in those crucial hard yards. Earlier, in the year, Shikhar Dhawan confessed that he wished to be a part of the Indian cricket team for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
Ravichandran Ashwin, one of India’s most influential off-spinners in the current squad, believes that it is just a matter of one knock from Shikhar Dhawan that will entirely change the course of Dhawan’s current career curve.
Talking on his Youtube Channel, Ravichandran Ashwin said, “Only when the Top 3 failed, we had problems in the past. Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. We talk a lot about Rohit and Kohli, but Dhawan is a stalwart. He was silently doing his job. Will his place be a big void to fill for Team India?”
He further said, “Should we go back to Shikhar Dhawan, or should we groom Ishan Kishan, who has just scored a double hundred? Instead of backing a player on the basis of one huge score, we should see what the team requires. Which character will deliver under pressure? Which character will serve us for a long time? Ishan Kishan was dropped after a double hundred, but Team India has seen Shubman Gill’s run in the past. He has scored hefty runs and has been the most consistent batter for the team over a period of time. He also plays the slog sweep and the traditional sweep, can cut and pull pacers. Smart batting, quality batting and acceleration towards the end. He accelerated beautifully in the last four overs and hit that 200 in the Hyderabad ODI.”
