Leaving Shikhar Dhawan on bench in SA ODIs will make no sense at all, says Gautam Gambhir

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has opined that excluding Shikhar Dhawan from the ODI team will be a disaster. Dhawan is part of the ODI squad for the three-match series against South Africa and made his place in the XI in the first game too. He played his last ODI against Sri Lanka in July last year.

The 36-year-old wasn’t part of the T20 World Cup played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. He hasn’t had enough match practice apart from playing the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. Apart from this, he only played for India in the three-match ODI series in March last year and the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. He also played in the two halves of the IPL 2021 for the Delhi Capitals.

Meanwhile, Gambhir touched upon Dhawan’s presence on social media and mentioned the fact that the latter has 10 times more followers on Instagram than the population of Gurugram, where he lives.

“Shikhar Dhawan is a sensation on social media. He has close to 10 million followers on Instagram alone, which is almost ten times more than the population of Gurugram where he now lives. I’d recommend that there is something for everyone on his Insta handle. There are fitness videos, dancing videos with his mother, dubsmash videos and there is also a video where Shikhar is playing the flute with perhaps his Guru,” Gambhir observed while writing for the TOI.

It is a grand opportunity for Shikhar Dhawan in South Africa: Gautam Gambhir

The former India opener compared Dhawan’s flute notes with the typical left-hander cover drives. He also added that he hopes Dhawan put his bad run with the bat during the Vijay Hazare Trophy behind.

“Trust me, it’s an absolute delight, all notes are in proper place just like a perfectly struck left-hander’s cover drive with the bat finishing on his right shoulder. How good it will be to see him translate his social media form on the playing field. It is a grand opportunity for him in South Africa. I am not a great believer in age and all that. His critics are saying that at 36, Indian cricket should look beyond Shikhar.