Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the best opening batsmen for India for the past several years now. It is not like India have not tried different batsmen for the opening positions. From Rohit Sharma to KL Rahul to Prithvi Shaw to Mayank Agarwal, from Hanuma Vihari to Murali Vijay, the Indian cricket team has tried a number of players at the top across all formats. But only a few have been as consistent across the board as Dhawan has been.
Dhawan has played 34 Tests in which he has scored 7 centuries and scored a total of 2,315 runs at an average of 40.61. But after a string of poor performances in 2018, Dhawan has been left out of the Test squad. The left-hander last played a Test match against England at The Oval in September 2018.
So, the question is will Dhawan, who is now 34 years old, get a chance to play Test cricket for India again? Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has his say on the discussion.
“Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and KL Rahul. There are already four options ahead of Dhawan who is in the 5th position. It means that the position of strength which Dhawan had is not there anymore, and that privilege is not there anymore. So Shikhar Dhawan may happen sometime in the future, but not in the near future because the team has started looking ahead,” Chopra further said.
The former India opener added: “I think it has not been spoken but they have taken call on his Test career that he is a superb white-ball player, so he should focus on ODIs and T20Is. But in Test cricket, we are investing in other people. Be it Rohit Sharma, or KL Rahul – who should definitely be getting a chance to open in Test cricket very soon. There is Mayank Agarwal who has done well, and of course, Prithvi Shaw. So, I don’t think Shikhar Dhawan is going to get a chance in near future.”
