I was not surprised by Shikhar Dhawan's exclusion in India's T20 World Cup squad: Saba Karim

Former India player Saba Karim is not “really surprised” by Shikhar Dhawan’s exclusion from Team India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled in the United Arab Emirates and Oman between October 17 and November 14.

Karim feels that with the kind of performance Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have delivered for the Indian team, Dhawan’s exclusion was expectable. More so, after skipper Virat Kohli expressed his desire to open in the T20 World Cup during the home T20I series against England earlier this year. Karim further reckoned that India can utilize Mumbai Indians batter Ishan Kishan as a floater in the team.

“I wasn’t really surprised that Shikhar Dhawan wasn’t in the team. Rohit Sharma and Rahul are readily available as openers while Kohli himself wanted to open not long ago. India have Ishan Kishan as well who can play as a floater. So, there was not much surprise,” Karim told Sports Tak.

As for Dhawan’s exclusion, Chetan Sharma, Team India chief selector, had revealed during the squad announcement that he continues to be in the loop, although he did not disclose the inside conversation.

“Shikhar is a very important player for us. Can’t disclose the discussion. He is in the loop. We thought the need of the hour was to look at others and rest him,” Sharma had said during a virtual press meet on September 8.

Saba Karim on MS Dhoni’s appointment as mentor 

Karim also revealed what as per him is the primary reason behind MS Dhoni’s appointment as Team India mentor for the coming World Cup.

“I think the biggest reason to include MS Dhoni is sometimes you need an outside perspective to say whether the strategies you have made, whether the XI you are playing is right. When you have an experienced player like MS Dhoni who is experienced, has been a world champion and is playing cricket actively, his contribution is important.”

“A word of caution will be to define MS Dhoni’s role clearly because you don’t want controversy. We all can hope that the pairing of Kohli and Dhoni off the field will work well and provide India success,” Karim added.