Last Update on: January 8th, 2020 at 11:19 am
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has said that India need to look beyond misfiring opener Shikhar Dhawan. Gautam Gambhir’s comments came moments after Shikhar Dhawan failed to deliver in yet another T20I. Making his comeback in the second T20I against Sri Lanka, Shikhar Dhawan just could not get going as he struggled with the strike-rate again.
While his fellow opening partner KL Rahul was striking at 173 in the powerplay, Dhawan could only manage a strike-rate of 100 during the fielding restrictions. With time running out for the southpaw, the innings against Sri Lanka would have done more damage to his chances of retaining his spot in T20I. Dhawan managed to score only 32 runs off 29 balls before being sent back.
Before the second T20I against Sri Lanka, Dhawan had scored just 272 runs at a below-par strike-rate of 110.56 in his last 12 T20I innings. On the other hand, KL Rahul has been in stunning form in the shortest format of the game. Before his 45-run knock in the second T20I, he had scored 356 runs in 9 innings at an impressive strike-rate of 142.40. A few weeks ago, he also helped Karnataka win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
And with Dhawan failing to grab his chances once again, Gautam Gambhir said that it is time for India to look beyond the southpaw. He also said that Dhawan has not really managed to make an impact in the shortest format of the game.
“In one-day cricket, not in T20 cricket,” said Gautam Gambhir when the Star Sports anchor said that the southpaw is a player for the grand tournaments.
“He has not done a lot in T20 cricket if you see the entire stat. I am not a big believer in number and stats he has not had that impact, the kind of impact that people like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul has had on T20 format. So probably, India needs to look beyond Shikhar Dhawan.
India, meanwhile, beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second T20I to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series.
