IND vs SA| Don’t see the point of Shikhar Dhawan’s inclusion in the squad, opines Saba Karim

After registering a series win against New Zealand in T20Is India are scheduled to play a three match ODI series versus South Africa from January 19. BCCI is yet to announce the white-ball squad for the series. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been the preferred opening pair in the limited overs for India since a long time. Shikhar Dhawan is another candidate for the opening slot. 

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim has opined that there is no point including Dhawan in the ODI squad if he will not be the part of the playing XI. 

“Even if Dhawan is there in the squad, will he be part of the playing XI? KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have opened in Tests and T20s, so I think they will open in ODIs as well. So, if you are including Dhawan in the squad and not playing him, should he be in the team?

“I don’t see the point of his inclusion, what is the need? The only thing possible is the left hand-right hand combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. It has been a formidable partnership as well," Karim said on the Khelneeti podcast on YouTube.

Dhawan last played against Sri Lanka in the limited over series where he led the second-string team in July. He was then overlooked for the T20 World Cup 2021 in spite of having a good IPL season where he scored 587 runs to finish as the fourth highest run-scorer. He was then also not included in the squad for series against New Zealand. Saba Karim is of the opinion that it will be difficult for Dhawan to make a comeback to the national side. 

“It would be difficult for Shikhar Dhawan to come back into this side. I still think that he should be given one more opportunity because he is a big player with experience,” he concluded. 

"Have to see what the selectors and the team management think. I don’t think Delhi will qualify for the knockouts, so Dhawan has to prove by scoring runs and he only has one more match to do so.”