‘Rahul Dravid took the tough call of excluding Shikhar Dhawan for India vs South Africa T20Is’: BCCI official

A top BCCI official revealed that it was head coach Rahul Dravid's decision to look beyond Shikhar Dhawan and the selectors agreed to it. The former India captain had also informed Dhawan about his non-selection before the selectors met on Sunday, said the official.

There was a lot of talk around Shikhar Dhawan's comeback to the Indian T20I side for the South Africa series as regulars Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma were supposed to be rested in order to prepare and fly to England early to play the cancelled fifth Test match. Dhawan had the numbers to back him too. The left-hander notched up more than 450 runs in a season for the 7th year in a row in the IPL. In fact, Dhawan has been that good at the top of the order for any franchise that he has represented that his IPL 2022 tally of 460 runs in 14 matches was his lowest in 6 years. He mostly ends up scoring more than 500 runs in an IPL season.

Indian team head coach Rahul Dravid along with Shikhar Dhawan (File photo) (ANI)

Reports had even suggested that the left-hander was in line along with Hardik Pandya to be appointed captain of the side for the five-match T20 series but the selectors' decision to keep KL Rahul in the squad perhaps changed the scheme of things as the right-hander was given the charge of the 18-member India squad sans Dhawan to take on South Africa.

A top BCCI official, however, revealed that it was head coach Rahul Dravid's decision to look beyond Dhawan and the selectors agreed to it. The former India captain had also informed Dhawan about his non-selection before the selectors met on Sunday, said the official.

“Shikhar has been a great servant of Indian cricket for over a decade. But in T20s, you have to give chances to youngsters who have been doing well. Rahul had to make the tough call and we all agreed. Shikhar was informed by Rahul before the team was announced on Sunday,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.IN.

With less than five months for the T20 World Cup in Australia this year, Dhawan's exclusion from the Indian side was clear indication that the left-hander is currently not in the team management's scheme of things for the showpiece event.

The Indian squad for the South Africa series did not have any major surprises apart from the exclusion of Dhawan. Young pacers Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik earned their maiden India call-ups for their stunning returns in the IPL while Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik made a comeback to the Indian side.

Kuldeep had a brilliant IPL with the Delhi Capitals. Hardik impressed one and all with his captaincy skills, batting and moreover, his bowling fitness while Karthik literally forced his way into the side on the back of some breathtaking finishing acts for RCB in this year's IPL.

The five-match India vs South Africa T20Is will begin o n June 9 in New Delhi.