England vs India: VVS Laxman Questions the Omission of Shikhar Dhawan

Former Indian middle-order batsman VVS Laxman during an interview with ESPN Cricinfo questioned the axing of Shikhar Dhawan for the ongoing second Test at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London between England and India.

Veteran batsman Laxman stressed on the fact that Dhawan was the most confident of India’s top three during their 31 runs defeat against England at Edgbaston.

Dhawan played as the opener for India in the opening Test against the Three Lions at Birmingham. His inclusion raised several voices especially after Dhawan’s poor outing in the only practice game which India played against a second string Essex side.

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Free-flowing batsman Dhawan failed to bother the scorers in either of the innings. His mode of dismissal has been more or less the same. Hence it might be the reason for his omission from the Lord’s Test.

Cheteshwar Pujara made his return in place of Dhawan. KL Rahul who batted at No.3 in the opening Test opened the batting with Murali Vijay.

When rain interrupted play, India lost both their openers for just 11 runs. When the rain stopped play India was 11 for two. Vijay was dismissed for a duck while Rahul made only eight runs.

Shikhar Dhawan was the most confident among the top 3 in Edgbaston says VVS Laxman

“Every batsman failed [at Edgbaston] barring Virat Kohli. If you compare Rahul, Vijay and Dhawan, Dhawan looked the most confident. His footwork was more precise,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Laxman as saying.

“But probably he gets the axe because of the way he gets out. As a stroke-player, you sometimes expect while playing shots to get out in a certain fashion. Sehwag was like that. Whenever Sehwag got out, it looked bad. But that is also their strength,” he added.

“I am really surprised at why the axe has to fall on Shikhar Dhawan and not the other batsmen. When the numbers say that it’s not only Dhawan who has been struggling since 2015 overseas. It’s all the top four batsmen. Yes, he didn’t have the numbers backing him, but neither did the other three batsmen,” he said.

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