IND vs PAK: Saba Karim Speaks On Shikhar Dhawan's Exclusion From India's Asia Cup Squad, Says "End Of The Road Is..."

Former India batsman Saba Karim opened up on Shikhar Dhawan being excluded from India’s 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023.

The 37-year-old player was a consistent performer for the Men in Blue till last year, after which he struggled to make his place in the squad and saw a downfall in his career graph.

In the ODI Asia Cups, Shikhar Dhawan scored 534 runs from his nine innings with a strike rate of 91.43. Dhawan’s highest score in the Asia Cup is 127. The left-handed batsman hammered two centuries and two fifties in the tournament as well.

Shikhar Dhawan made his ODI debut for India in 2010 against Australia following which he played 167 matches and scored 6793 runs with a strike rate of 91.35.

In the 20-over format, the 37-year-old made his debut in 2011 against West Indies and featured in 68 matches in which he scored 1759 runs with a strike rate of 126.36.

Shikhar Dhawan played his last game for India in 2022 against Bangladesh after which he has not featured in any game. In his last match for the Men in Blue, Shikhar Dhawan failed to display a good performance and scored only three runs from eight balls in the third ODI match of the Bangladesh series in 2022.

This is a very tough reality: Saba Karim on Shikhar Dhawan

While speaking about Shikhar Dhawan’s career and his exclusion, Saba Karim said that it is the hard truth one should accept since the game moves on. Karim gave an instance of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and said that even a year back, the pacer was a part of the playing eleven, and now no one can see him in the squad.

The former player also added that if younger players start to perform it becomes tough for the senior players to come back.

“End of the road is very harsh but I think the game moves on. It’s not only about Shikhar Dhawan. Look at Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a year back he was part of the side and now we don’t see his name in the squad. So if younger players get in and perform, it’s not easy for the former match-winners to make a comeback. This is a very tough reality but I think all cricketers have to go through this,” said Saba Karim to Sportskeeda.

India will start their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against Pakistan on Saturday (September 2nd) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka.