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‘We are 2-3 years behind in white-ball cricket’: Ex-IND selector rings warning bells, says ‘no place for Shikhar Dhawan’
The ex-cricketer also made a bold claim regarding Shikhar Dhawan's strike-rate, stating that maintaining a rate of 130-140 is not his ball game.
The debate over India's opening slot in the 50-over format saw a new twist as Ishan Kishan slammed a double ton in the final ODI against Bangladesh on Saturday, which India won by 227 runs. Batting first India went to pile 409/8 in 50 overs, out of which 210 (131) came off Ishan's bat.
Ishan kept going from the word go and took just 126 balls to reach his double ton. His blistering knock at Chattogram featured, 24 boundaries and 10 maximums.
Meanwhile his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan's struggle continued as he was packed for 3 off 8 deliveries. Sharing his views on the same, former India wicketkeeper and selector Saba Karim said Dhawan fits in India's limited overs squad only if the management are content with 275-300 runs on the board.
"It will depend on the team management, that what sort of cricket they are wanting to play. If the team management still believes that 275-300 is their aim, then you need Shikhar Dhawan because he is still that kind of a player.
"It is a different thing that he has not scored runs in this series. But if you give him an opportunity again and tell him that we have to score 275-300 only, Shikhar Dhawan's place will be there till the World Cup. But if we have decided that our par score will be 325-350, there is no place for Dhawan," noted Saba during a discussion on Sony Sports, the official broadcaster of the ongoing India-Bangladesh series.
The ex-cricketer also made a bold claim regarding Dhawan's strike-rate, stating that maintaining a rate of 130-140 is not his ball game. He also advised the management to explore other alternatives for Dhawan and went to name a few apart from Ishan.
"So a lot will depend on the selectors and the team management, the captain, that what expectation you have. If you expect that Shikhar Dhawan will play a big knock at a strike rate of 130-140 in a 350-run game, it is not going to happen.
"I feel in the coming times, we have to achieve a lot. I feel we are two to three years behind in white-ball cricket and to get there we will need new players, players like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Prithvi Shaw," he added.
