IPL 2022 | Shikhar Dhawan must be disappointed about South Africa T20Is exclusion, believes Suresh Raina

IPL 2022 | Shikhar Dhawan must be disappointed about South Africa T20Is exclusion, believes Suresh Raina

SportsCafe Desk

By SportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Suresh Raina has said that Shikhar Dhawan would have been disappointed with his omission from the Indian team for the upcoming T20I series versus South Africa. Playing for PBKS, Dhawan was in fine touch in IPL 2022 scoring 460 runs in 14 matches at an average of 38.33 including three fifties.

With the Indian Premier League entering the playoffs, the BCCI announced the Indian squad for a five-match T20I series against South Africa on Sunday. While many senior players were rested, KL Rahul was handed the captaincy, with Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh rewarded for their brilliant bowling. The duo claimed a combined 32 wickets and were handed their maiden India call-ups. Along with the new names, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya were also recalled to the national team courtesy of their performances in the ongoing IPL. 

While all these inclusions in the team were on expected lines, Shikhar Dhawan’s omission raised many eyebrows. Dhawan has been a consistent run-scorer for Punjab Kings in IPL 2022 and played a crucial role in their campaign. Dhawan amassed 460 runs from 14 games at 38.33. Sharing his views, former India cricketer Suresh Raina has said that Dhawan must be very disappointed with his exclusion as he deserved a place in the team. 

"Obviously, Shikhar would have been disappointed. Every captain wants a player like him in the team. He is fun loving person who brightens up the environment. And he has always scored runs - be it domestic, international or T20. If you've brought Dinesh Karthik back in the team, Shikhar Dhawan deserved a place too. He has performed runs the last 3-4 years and has scored runs non-stop. Somewhere deep down, he must be sad," Raina said on the Cricket Live show on Star Sports.

Dhawan last played T20I in July 2021 while captaining the Indian team against Sri Lanka. He has been one of the regular members of the ODI squad but has been attempting to earn a place in the shortest format for a while. 

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