India A vs South Africa A: Shikhar Dhawan added to the squad for last two one-dayers

The national selection panel has added India opener Shikhar Dhawan to the India A squad for the ongoing series against South Africa A in Trivandrum. Dhawan, however, will be available only for the last two games of the five-match series. Dhawan’s Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer is leading the side. The selectors also confirmed that all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the remainder of the series after suffering a thumb fracture.

Dhawan recently returned home after the conclusion of the T20I and the ODI series in the Caribbeans. The series saw him making a comeback to the field after recovering from a finger injury that ended his World Cup campaign. But Dhawan failed to get going against West Indies. The southpaw looked like a pale shadow of his usual self against the hosts.

He played all three T20Is and managed just 27 runs in them. In the two ODIs that he played, his aggregate was only 38 runs. Fortunately, his poor form did not cost India much as they won all the games. Earlier this week, Dhawan was named in India’s 15-member T20I squad for the forthcoming home series against South Africa and he would be looking to regain his form quickly.

Tricky times for Vijay

All-rounder Vijay Shankar, nonetheless, is enduring a tough time due to the recent spate of injuries. His World Cup hopes were dashed by a brutal yorker from Jasprit Bumrah in the nets. He suffered a foot injury and was eventually out of the tournament. Shankar could not make it to the squad for the West Indies tour before returning to action through the Tamil Nadu Premier League.

But any hopes of regaining his place in the ODI team again has been hit by another injury setback. With Shreyas Iyer doing well, Shankar needs to hit the ground running soon but for the time it is not possible. Shankar was picked in the World Cup squad as the number four batsman but could not make much of an impression. Iyer, on the other hand, has proved his credentials with a fine show in the West Indies.

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