Shikhar Dhawan quickly rose to become Rohit Sharma’s unofficial deputy in the Indian ODI team. When Rohit was unable to participate in an ODI, Dhawan would step in as captain.
Flash forward to 2023, and Shubman Gill has firmly established himself as Rohit’s backup opener in ODIs, pushing Dhawan to the sidelines.
These are vital months for Dhawan to establish his claim for a comeback to international action since the ODI World Cup is scheduled to be contested in India later this year.
He thus has a good opportunity to do that during the current IPL 2023.
For only the third time in their history, the left-handed captain of the Punjab Kings led the team to back-to-back triumphs to open the season. Dhawan has shown strong play in both games, particularly in Wednesday night’s exciting victory against Rajasthan Royals.
With 86 off 56, Dhawan led the PBKS scoring with an inning that included nine fours and three sixes. Irfan Pathan, a former all-rounder for India, commended the top-order batsman for his double performances while pointing out that the batter may have been affected by being continually cut from the national side.
Shikhar Dhawan is a veteran IPL player who has also shown great consistency with the bat, according to Pathan, who spoke on Star Sports. He has a very strong mentality and is a highly formidable player. This year, he has to establish himself as a capable captain, and his batting is crucial to that. He must have been uncomfortable being in and out of the Indian squad, which is why he wants to demonstrate that he is still the genuine Gabbar of Indian cricket.
Dhawan seemed pleased with his recent efforts.
“We’ve played well in the first two games, and I’m working hard to raise my strike rate. The wicket rapidly regains velocity. We have a strong batting lineup this year, so we can maintain our momentum by hitting boundaries and applying pressure to the opposition, said Dhawan after leading his club to a five-run victory against RR.
