Team India recorded a comprehensive win in the 1st of the 5 match T20I series between India and West Indies played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad as India won the match by 68 runs to take a 1-0. Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan led India managed a clean sweep over the Windes in 3 match ODI series.
However, what was the most talking point of the match was when middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav came out alongside Rohit Sharma to open the inning. While he did well, scoring at fast rate, but it still raises question, has India not finalized their opening duo for the T20 World Cup.
Even with the presence of Ishan Kishan in the team, team India opted to not include him in the playing XI and opted with Suryakumar instead. This has led to questions being raised and many even suggested that Shikhar Dhawan should have been selected for the series.
Today in this article, we take a look at 3 reasons why Shikhar Dhawan could have been a great opening partner for Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Experience
At the age of 36-years-old, Shikhar Dhawan has tons of experience under his belt to play in the World Cup. He left-hand batsman has played 68 T20I matches for India and has scored 1759 runs. He has also played in big events, thus won’t have the pressure of playing in a event like World Cup.
Run machine in IPL
While many have said that Shikhar Dhawan doesn’t have a comprehensive strike rate to play T20 cricket, but it his consistency that makes him really especial. Dhawan’s record in the IPL speaks for himself. Dhawan has been competing in the IPL since the inaugural edition and has played 206 matches and has scored 6244 runs. He has consistently been scoring over 400 runs from the last 7 seasons.
Great understanding with Rohit Sharma
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were India’s main man upfront for the Indian team for several years. The duo have been opening the inning for India from 2012 and has a very good understanding of each other, while even Rohit Sharma likes playing alongside Dhawan, who has been his partner for the last 8 to 9 years.
