Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul
Former Indian opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth has been left unimpressed over Shikhar Dhawan's recent form in T20I cricket and has hence thrown his weight behind KL Rahul to be Rohit Sharma's opening partner for the World T20 Cup in Australia in October this year.
"Runs against SL (Sri Lanka) don't count. If I was chairman of selectors, I won't pick Dhawan in the T20 WC squad. There is no competition between him and Rahul. Only one winner," Srikkanth said on Star Sports Tamil on Sunday.
Dhawan will be making his international comeback in the three-match series against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on January 5, from a knee injury he incurred during a domestic match in November. Owing to the injury, he missed out on the West Indies series at home. However, his T20I form in 2019 has not been impressive enough.
Following a record-breaking 2018, where he piled up over 650 runs in the format, Dhawan managed only 272 runs in 12 innings at a below-par strike rate of 110.56. In the same period, Rahul scored 356 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 142.40.
Dhawan is however confident of making a strong comeback and wants to score as many runs as possible while helping the team win the World Cup in Australia.
"Lots of injuries last year, but it's part and parcel of the game. It's a new year, looking forward to a new start. I always take things in a positive manner. Injuries are natural, just take them in my stride. Looking forward to scoring lots of runs this year, be a more impactful player, win matches for my team and win the World Cup. This series is a good opportunity for me to score runs. I am always developing my game, developing new shots," Dhawan told Star Sports in Guwahati.
India still have good 14 international matches, besides the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the IPL 2020 season, to lock-in on the opening partner for Rohit.
Meanwhile, skipper Virat Kohli has expressed his happy headache over this selection when Rohit returns. The latter has been rested for thye three-match series against Sri Lanka at home.
“As far as the series is concerned, it’s pretty straightforward. Both of them will start (Dhawan and Rahul). But when Rohit comes back, you know, it’s going to be a difficult thing to address because Shikhar has been an experienced player but KL is playing so well,” said Kohli in the pre-game presser.
