'I don’t see his name popping up' - Sunil Gavaskar on Shikhar Dhawan's T20 World Cup chances

The veteran Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan is struggling to break into the national team despite enjoying a great Indian Premier League 2022 season. The Indian setup rested a few key senior players for the South Africa series, including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, which opened the door for fringe players, but Dhawan was not included in the squad.

This suggests that the player’s T20I career is all but over, with the 2022 T20 World Cup coming in the next few months. Former batting great Sunil Gavaskar also doesn’t see Dhawan making the Indian squad for the World Cup in Australia.

“No. I don’t see his name popping up. If it had to pop up, it would have been in this squad. A lot of guys have gone to England and he could have been in this squad. If he is not in this squad, I don’t see him ending in the mix (for T20 World Cup),” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

The 36-year-old Dhawan scored 460 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 122.66 in IPL 2022 for Punjab Kings, but he faces tough competition for the opening positions in white-ball cricket in the Indian team and is unlikely to be selected for the India T20I team. He last played for India in a T20I in July 2021 against Sri Lanka. Over all, in his career, he has scored 1759 runs in 68 T20I matches at an average of 27.92 and a strike rate of 126.36.

Gavaskar picks KL Rahul to partner Rohit Sharma for 2022 T20 World Cup

With Shikhar Dhawan not in the picture for the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup, India are most likely to go ahead with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as a first-choice opening pair in Australia. The Indian skipper was rested for the South Africa tour but is back with the red-ball team for the upcoming England tour.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul missed the South Africa series due to injury and Ishan Kishan grabbed the chance to make a big point for the place in the starting eleven in the upcoming World Cup. However, Gavaskar said he would prefer Rahul to partner Rohit in T20Is.

“My opening combination would have KL Rahul if he’s fit and Rohit Sharma alongside him,” he said.