Why do people call for resting Dhawan and not Rohit to accommodate Mayank Agarwal

Team India is all set to play in the Nidahas Trophy as their next assignment. With the senior players rested, the onus will be on the youngsters who have got an opportunity on the tour. While the young guns like Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, and Mohammad Siraj have boarded the bus for the tour, the likes of Mayank Agarwal has missed out. Mayank has been in a tremendous form across the three formats of the game this season in domestic cricket.

Hence, the exclusion of the Karnataka opener has not got down well with many. Former Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar, noted that it is indeed unfortunate for Mayank Agarwal to have missed the bus. But it is just a curious case when established players are hard to dislodge from the team. Gavaskar noted how many middle order batsmen never got a chance in the Indian team with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman occupying the slots for a couple of decades.

“As always the selection of a team means some in-form players who have done well in the domestic season won’t find a place in the squad. Mayank Agarwal has had a fabulous season in all three formats of the game but still is not in the team. This has happened to many players in the past where it’s been impossible to dislodge the established ones in the team,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for TOI.

Why Dhawan? Why not Rohit?

Interestingly, many felt that Shikhar Dhawan should have been rested to accommodate Mayank Agarwal in the squad. Amidst this backdrop, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his displeasure at such thoughts. He remarked that it is unfair to be wielding the axe on Dhawan all the time.

He questioned why do the pundits not think of dropping Rohit Sharma. It is evident that Shikhar’s form in the recently concluded South Africa series was magnificent. On the contrary, Rohit’s numbers are known to all. He felt this was totally unfair on someone like Dhawan to have the axe on his head all the time whenever a youngster like Mayank Agarwal scores heavily.

“What’s been interesting though in this debate about Agarwal’s exclusion is the name of the player that those backing him wanted dropped, rested, whatever. As always Shikhar Dhawan’s name is top of the list and while he could hardly be dropped on form, Agarwal’s backers wanted him rested. Why Dhawan, why not Rohit Sharma? After all Rohit played more matches than Dhawan in South Africa. Not for a moment it is being advocated that Sharma should be dropped but it’s only to bring out that when the axe is to be wielded then Dhawan invariably tops the list,” Gavaskar questioned.

Suggestion for Shikhar Dhawan

In such a scenario, Gavaskar’s advice to Shikhar Dhawan is quite simple. He wants Dhawan to not only confine his knocks to 70s or 80s but score big hundreds. He hopes to see Dhawan eradicate the lofted shots and focus more on scoring big hundreds rather than just getting starts.

“That’s why the left-hander has to realise that getting brilliant 70s and 80s is not going to save his place. Only hundreds will and so like Virat Kohli hardly plays a lofted shot even in limited overs cricket and gets to 100s, Dhawan also has to ensure he eliminates the risky lofted shots and gets hundreds,” the former Indian cricketer suggested.

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