IND vs WI | Mayank Agarwal in line to replace Shikhar Dhawan for ODI series
BCCI
Mayank Agarwal is likely to replace Shikhar Dhawan for the West Indies ODIs as the latter has not yet recovered from his knee injury. Agarwal's form in Tests has been fantastic this season as he scored two double-hundreds against South Africa and Bangladesh and can be rewarded with an ODI call-up.
Indian Test opener Mayank Agarwal is likely to get a berth in India's ODI squad for their series against West Indies in place of injured Shikar Dhawan. Dhawan has not recovered from the knee injury that he had sustained in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Agarwal can be roped in as a reserve third opener with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul probably being the first-choice opening pair.Â
"The selection committee has recommended Mayank's name as Shikhar's replacement after consultation with the team management. Dhawan is currently undergoing rehabilitation," a senior BCCI source told TOI.
India are set to play three ODIs against the West Indies starting from the first ODI in Chennai on December 15, the second ODI in Vizag on December 18 and the final ODI in Cuttack on December 22. Agarwal is currently playing for Karnataka against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy and will join the Indian squad before their game in Chennai.
Agarwal has had a stupendous start to his Test career and having scored 872 runs at an average of over 67 with 3 hundreds and 3 fifties. And the selectors feel that it is only fair to give Agarwal a nod ahead of the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill who are waiting in the wings.
"Mayank along with Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill were the three choices that the selection committee had. But team management believes that Mayank's List A record of 50 plus average and 100 plus strike rate with 13 hundreds is good enough to try him out in this format," the source stated.
This is not the first time that the 28-year-old has been called up to the national squad as he was named as a replacement for the injured Vijay Shankar during the 2019 World Cup. The selectors have indirectly hinted that Dhawan will not be a part of their plans for the 2023 World Cup that is to be held in India and thus it becomes very important to try out new options in order to form a formidable opening partnership with Rohit Sharma.
"It is time that we create a pool of openers and look at all the potential options who could partner Rohit," another source close to the developments told TOI.
