Shikhar Dhawan set to board flight to England, Twitterati have their say

The BCCI finally announced the 15-man Indian squad for the forthcoming Champions Trophy in England. There weren’t any surprises in the team as the selectors went in with proven performers instead of picking rookies. Opener KL Rahul failed to recover from his shoulder injury which gave an opportunity to Shikhar Dhawan to make a comeback in the ODI fold.

It was the same tournament in 2013 when India lifted the title, where Dhawan made a name for himself. His career was just 5 games old before he was given an opportunity to open the innings in 2013 and the left-hander responded by scoring back-to-back hundreds in the first two games of the tournament. He performed consistently for the next two and a half years till he lost his place in the side due to a brief injury coupled with KL Rahul’s arrival.

Dhawan, who was the mainstay in the ODI set-up, has played just 2 ODIs in the last 15 months that too when he was brought in to replace the injured Rohit Sharma in the England ODI series in January this year, which was the last ODI assignment of India.

Ironically, Dhawan has been picked to go to England in place of Rahul, who took his ODI spot after putting up some blistering performances. It is the same place where Dhawan resurrected his career. The 31-year-old has scored consistently in the ongoing IPL, which is another factor of him being recalled. In 11 innings, the Delhi dasher has amassed 388 runs at 35.27 which include two half-centuries.

Besides Dhawan and Rohit, who is returning from an injury, Ajinkya Rahane has also made it to the 15-man group as the third opener. The Indian think-tank is expected to pick Dhawan to open alongside Rohit initially due to the former’s impressive ODI record and the successful opening partnership he had established with the Mumbai lad earlier in his career.

This might be a foot in the door as far as Dhawan’s international career is concerned. He needs to grab this opportunity by the scruff of the neck to cement his spot in the Indian Team again.

Here are the best Twitter reactions to Dhawan’s comeback for the ICC Champions Trophy: