ICC World Cup 2019 | Shikhar Dhawan’s threshold for pain is incredible, says Sunil Gavaskar
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Sunil Gavaskar has mentioned that Shikhar Dhawan’s 'threshold for pain is incredible', referring to the fact that the southpaw went on to score a century despite injuring his thumb against Australia. Dhawan scored a brilliant 117 off 109 but was not able to take the field in the second innings.
Shikhar Dhawan was injured during the encounter between India and Australia and was subsequently ruled out for a period of three weeks during the World Cup. Five matches will be played during this period but still, the team has not named a replacement, with the standby Rishabh Pant coming in only as a cover. Virat Kohli and co. will take on England on June 30 and Sunil Gavaskar hoped that Dhawan gains fitness by then.
“The injury to Shikhar Dhawan is a blow, for the left-hander had just stroked a terrific hundred against Australia. Every individual has a pain threshold and Dhawan must be truly incredible for he had injured his thumb early in the innings and yet batted as if there was no pain. That threshold is what gives hope that he will be ready to play by the time the much-awaited clash with England arrives,” he wrote in a column, reported PTI.
The Delhi batsman has the second highest centuries - six - in ICC tournaments, only behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. The left-hander’s penchant for big matches is the reason the team wants to give him every chance, as pointed out by Gavaskar.
“The left-hander's record in ICC games is fantastic and the team management would thus give him every chance to recover and get fit,” he remarked.
Prior to Dhawan’s injury, KL Rahul was slotted into number four. However, Hardik Pandya was promoted to the position in the encounter against Australia in order to take advantage of the fine start. Vijay Shankar, over Dinesh Karthik, is likely to take up Rahul’s previous role. The former India skipper reckoned that the positions will have to be shuffled now.
“What Dhawan's unfortunate injury does is to give India the chance to see who can bat at number four. The start that the openers gave and then Dhawan's partnership with Kohli meant that Hardik Pandya was promoted to bat at four and what a terrific job he did. So if India are in a similar position then Pandya will once again be the man at four,” explained the 69-year-old.
“It's only if the team loses early wickets that Vijay Shankar might get a go. Shankar batted well against the Kiwis in New Zealand earlier in the year and so is familiar with their attack. That should work in his favour,” added the former Mumbai player.
Virat Kohli had earlier stated that Mohammad Shami would get a look in only if the conditions are overcast and given the weather report of Nottingham, the pacer might get to play his first match today. Shami may be slotted in place of spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has been indifferent so far. Gavaskar cautioned the in-form team against the conditions at Trent Bridge where they will take on New Zealand today.
“India may also go with Shami in place of Yadav in case the conditions are overcast. The way India are playing the opposition won't matter too much. It's the conditions they will be concerned about, for that's the one thing that can upset the rhythm and tempo of this hungry unit,” he concluded.
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