'India might not be looking at Shikhar Dhawan': Chopra predicts battle among 4 cricketers for 2 slots in T20 World Cup

Aakash Chopra said there are only two slots available in the Indian batting unit for the T20 World Cup and there might be a four-way battle among Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shreyas Iyer.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes India might not be looking at Shikhar Dhawan for the T20 World Cup. The left-hander, who has been one of India’s mainstays at the top of the order in the last 7-8 years along with Rohit Sharma, has not been at his best in the shortest format. With the emergence of KL Rahul and captain Virat Kohli also showing his interest to open the innings, Dhawan’s place becomes ever so vulnerable in T20Is.

Shikhar Dhawan(REUTERS)

The left-hander featured in only one of India’s last five T20I games as India went in with Rohit and Rahul as the preferred openers while Kohli opened the innings once.

"I feel the team might not be looking at him [Shikhar Dhawan]. It is just my thought because last when you played him in the T20Is, he played just one match and was dropped for four. That wasn't fair, to begin with," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Chopra, however, added that Dhawan might not be completely out of the race as BCCI named him as the captain for the Indian limited-overs tour Sri Lanka which is minus the Test regulars including Rohit and Kohli.

"However, his IPL has been so good that you again want to go towards him but can't keep doing this, that you do one thing first and then the other thing. But they have made him the captain now, so if he does well, his name will be there in the list," Chopra added.

The former opener said there are only two slots available in the Indian batting unit for the T20 World Cup and there might be a four-way battle among Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shreyas Iyer.

"I feel Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer - two out of these four might get picked. Ishan Kishan, Manish Pandey and Sanju Samson might actually fall behind in this race.

"Manish Pandey's stocks are a little low for sure because when he plays at the top, he doesn't play that fast and he doesn't do well even for his franchise down the order. So, I feel he has the lowest stocks amongst all these unless he has a great tour of Sri Lanka,” he added.

India are slated to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Sri Lanka starting from July 13. These will be India’s final white-ball games before the T20 World Cup in October-November in UAE and Oman.