ICC World Cup 2023: "It Will Become Very Difficult To Play For India" - Aakash Chopra On Shikhar Dhawan's Future

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra stated that veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan’s international career might have ended following his snub from the squad for the ODI World Cup 2023 and it will be very difficult for him to make a return to Team India. Aakash Chopra highlighted that Shikhar Dhawan is not in the selector’s scheme of things in any format.

Shikhar Dhawan failed to make it into the 15-member provisional Indian squad. The left-handed batter was also not included in India’s squad for the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. Skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Ishan Kishan will be India’s first-choice openers for the global event.

Shikhar Dhawan Doesn’t Play T20Is – Aakash Chopra

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said that Shikhar Dhawan‘s international career might be coming to an end following his omission from the squad for the World Cup.

“If we look towards Shikhar Dhawan’s ODI career, he doesn’t play T20Is in any case, where does he stand and is it actually almost over because the next World Cup is very far away – 2027?” Chopra said.

The 37-year-old, who was an integral part of India’s ODI team for almost a decade, last played for the national team in December. He was dropped from the squad following his poor performances, having scored 688 runs in 22 innings with an average of 34.40 and a strike rate of 74.22 last year.

The Guy Is Doing A Classy Job – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra lauded Shikhar Dhawan for handling his omission from the team with grace and maturity. Chopra stated that Dhawan didn’t display bitterness or anger despite being left out of the squad.

“The guy is doing a classy job. When the team was announced, a lot of people, including myself, felt he had been wronged, that his name should have been in that list, that he should have been in the scheme of things, but he is not there. When the team was announced, he could be bitter, but he wasn’t bitter.”

“If you see the last five to seven years, Shikhar Dhawan is not bitter. He has started viewing things with great maturity. I know the 20-year-old Shikhar, he used to be a different boy, who had a lot of aggression and used to get flared up quickly, maybe short-tempered.”

India’s World Cup 2023 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2023: “You Carry Our Hopes…” – Shikhar Dhawan’s Blockbuster First Reaction After Being Ignored For World Cup