India vs Australia 2019: Shikhar Dhawan Should Have Played Ranji Trophy Feels Aakash Chopra

Former India opener Aakash Chopra and currently a commentator feels that despite Shikhar Dhawan not playing at his best in the recent past, he doesn’t see any changes with just three matches to go before the start of the 2019 World Cup. India is currently leading the 5 match series 2-0. With the sort of performance they have put in the recent past, it won’t be a surprise if the home team inflict a whitewash on Australia.

Shikhar Dhawan hasn’t been in the best of touches since the Asia Cup. India won the tournament and Dhawan was a prolific run scorer in the tournament. He started off with a couple of half-centuries in the first two matches of the New Zealand tour. However, both the knocks were nowhere close to one of his best. Since then he had a dip in form and has not managed to get India of to the ideal starts with we have associated over the years.

However, we all know that Dhawan takes his batting to a whole new level in ICC tournaments. He also boasts of a great record in England. He has been the leading run-getter in the last editions of Champions Trophy. Both the editions were played in England and Wales.

Aakash Chopra feels Shikhar Dhawan is going through a lean patch

“There is no denying Dhawan is going through a bad patch but with only three international matches left, I don’t see any drastic changes happening,” Aakash Chopra was quoted as saying by India Today.

“If he has scored 5000 plus ODI runs (5199 from 125 games), it means that he has been around for a reasonable period of time, seen ups and downs to have scored that many runs. His record in multi-nation tournaments (World Cup, Champions Trophy, Asia Cup) is fabulous, so it could well be a matter of time that he is back in form,” Chopra further added.

The former Indian opener lamented the fact that Dhawan wasn’t part of the Ranji Trophy squad which would have allowed him to be in form and match fit. He had stayed back in Australia after the T20I series. Aakash Chopra felt that Dhawan should have rather returned to India and participated in the Ranji Trophy.

 “He exactly didn’t set the stage on fire against West Indies at home and since he was not in Test side against Australia, he could have come back and played Ranji Trophy. It would have helped him as well as our domestic cricket. But that didn’t happen.”

The home team will be eager to seal the 5 matches ODI series against Australia at Ranchi tomorrow. It would also enable them to experiment a few combinations in the last two ODI’s. It would be the last 3 matches for India ahead of the World Cup. However, most of the players will be part of the IPL and will be playing quite a lot in the next two months.