Breaking: India Opener Shikhar Dhawan Ruled Out Of New Zealand Series

Team India will miss out on the services of opener Shikhar Dhawan as he won’t be travelling to New Zealand. The left-handed batsman has been ruled out of the tour due to a shoulder issue, Mumbai Mirror reports. Dhawan had suffered the issue during the fifth over of the third ODI when he dived to stop the ball. He was soon attended by team’s physio Nitin Patel and walked off the field.

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BCCI, on Sunday, had confirmed that he went for an x-ray. He did not come out to bat in the second innings and was wearing a sling while sitting in the dressing room. It was sort of confirmed that Dhawan will not be travelling to New Zealand.

The board is expected to confirm the news later today and might also come up with his replacement. Though it will not be an easy task for selectors as many contenders are playing for India A and Dhawan’s replacement will have to miss the ‘A’ series.

Mayank Agarwal, the leading contender to replace Dhawan in the ODI squad, is a part of India A team across formats and will have to miss the first-class matches ahead of the Test series. Shubman Gill, another contender in the race, is also scheduled to play all India A matches.

For T20Is, Sanju Samson should come in as Dhawan’s replacement once again. The 25-year-old had also replaced Dhawan for West indies T20Is in December 2019. He retained his spot for Sri Lanka T20Is in Rohit Sharma’s absence but had to be dropped for New Zealand T20Is. He is a part of India A squad and also played the first practice match last week.

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India play five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests in New Zealand. The series kicks off January 24 with Eden Park in Auckland hosting the first and second T20I (on January 26). The next three T20Is will be played on January 29, 31 and February 1. The three ODIs will be played from February 5 to 11 while the Test series starts on February 21. India play a practice match ahead of two Tests.