Sunil Gavaskar does not expect Shikhar Dhawan to make it to T20 World Cup squad

Former Indian captain and legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar has claimed that batter Shikhar Dhawan will not form part of India’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

The selection committee has largely overlooked Dhawan in recent times despite him performing well when he got the opportunity. The 36-year-old southpaw was not selected for the recently concluded five-match series against South Africa. He will also miss out on the two-match series against Ireland towards the end of this June 2022 and the subsequent white-ball leg against England in July 2022.

Speaking at the Star Sports post-match show Gavaskar said, “No. I don’t see his name popping up. If it had to pop up, it would have been in this squad (to play Ireland). A lot of guys have gone to England and he could have been in this squad. If he is not in this squad, I don’t see him ending in the mix (for T20 World Cup).”

India have established openers in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for the white-ball format. The selection panel has been considering giving more opportunities to young players with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan getting selected in absence of the experienced duo for the recently-concluded South Africa series. The youngsters didn’t disappoint with both scoring half-centuries.

The duo of Kishan and Gaikwad have a fair chance of getting a ticket to Australia for the multinational event.
However, Gavaskar was confident about Rohit and Rahul as the first-choice opening pair.

“My opening combination would have KL Rahul if he’s fit, and Rohit Sharma alongside him,” said Gavaskar.

KL Rahul’s fitness has been a concern of late as he missed out on the series against South Africa and will also miss the tour to the United Kingdom.

While a few players are sure to make it to the squad for the World Cup, a few spots are still wide open for selection.

In a recent press conference after the series against the Proteas, head coach Rahul Dravid said, “We are going to
start looking to finalise that squad as quickly as possible. Whether that will happen in the next series or the series after that is hard to tell, but we are certainly looking to do that as quickly as possible.”

“As you come closer to events you want to be able to finalise your final squad as quickly as possible.”

India will kick off their World Cup campaign against Pakistan at the MCG on 23 October 2022.

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