'Questions will be raised on Shikhar Dhawan if he fails' - Sunil Gavaskar

Shikhar Dhawan, the left-handed batsman was the top scorer against Bangladesh in 1st T20I for Team India. But, he didn’t look in his top-notch form in the series opener. The Indian opener took 42 deliveries in order to score 41 runs before getting run-out. And, the former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that Shikhar Dhawan needs to come strong before he comes under the scanner for his run a ball approach. In past also, the left-handed batsman had to face the heat of former cricketers for his making runs in T20Is at a slow rate.

The 33-year-old batter played sensibly in 1st T20I after his partner and skipper of the team Rohit Sharma got leg before wicket out to Shafiul Islam in the very first over. Shikhar tried his best in order to accelerate the rate of scoring runs but failed and ended his innings at a strike rate of 97.62.

Sunil Gavaskar opines on Shikhar Dhawan’s approach in T20Is

In an exclusive interview given to Sports Tak, Sunil Gavaskar was asked about the innings of Shikhar Dhawan against Bangladesh. The 70-year-old said that there will be questions raised on him if he didn’t perform in the upcoming matches of the series. He also added that the team will not be benefited by Dhawan’s run-a-ball approach and also accepted the fact that players do take a lot of time when they come into the team after a long gap, but he needs to find his rhythm fast.

“Questions will be raised on Shikhar Dhawan if he doesn’t bat well in the next 2 matches. The team is not going to benefit if you’re scoring 40-45 runs from the same number of balls. He will have to think about this. When players come back after the gap, it does take a lot of time to get back the rhythm,” the former Indian cricketer told in his interview.

Shikhar Dhawan was a part of Team India in the World Cup 2019. But, a fracture to his thumb ruled him out of the mega event. He marked his return to the national side on West Indies tour and since then he has played six T20Is and has scored 144 runs at an average of 24. He also holds a career strike rate of 124.02 in the shortest format of the game which is quite low for a batsman like him.

The hosts lost the first T20I against Bangladesh in the three-match series and the second encounter of the series is scheduled to take place in Rajkot on the 7th of November.

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