Sanju Samson Set To Replace Shikhar Dhawan For West Indies T20Is: Report

Senior India opener Shikhar Dhawan is set to miss the forthcoming T20I series against West Indies. India will host the reigning T20 World champions for three matches. The series will kickstart on December 6. Following the T20Is, both the teams will also lock horns in a three-match ODI series too. Dhawan, meanwhile, looks set to miss the T20Is.

According to Sportstar, the left-handed batsman has not recovered from the injury which he suffered during Delhi’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Maharashtra. Dhawan had injured his knee during the match and had to be hospitalised. He had later tweeted that he would recover inside ‘4-5’ days but is now unlikely to recover in time.

We Fall, We Break, but then…. We Rise. We heal and we overcome, and the only thing you have control over is how you respond to any situation. Here's to being positive and happy in every situation that life throws at you. Will be back in action in 4-5 days ? pic.twitter.com/0XDHRXMSeP

— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) November 21, 2019

The injury would be a big setback for Shikhar Dhawan as he has not done well with the bat in recent times. With competition in the team so high, the under-performing opener is far from assured of a spot in India’s squad in the shortest format. He has already lost his place in the Test side and time is running out for him in limited-overs format too.

Sanju Samson to get chance:

Dhawan’s injury, meanwhile, has paved the way for Sanju Samson’s addition to the team. The news outlet claimed that the Kerala man would be named as Dhawan’s replacement in the T20I squad. Sanju Samson was a surprising omission from the original squad for the series. He was a part of the three-match series against Bangladesh.

And although he did not get to play a single game, the selectors had to drop him in order to make room for captain Virat Kohli who was rested. In the absence of Dhawan, KL Rahul will open the innings along with Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli will come at number 3 and will be followed by Shreyas Iyer. Samson will have a race with Manish Pandey for a spot in the playing XI.

Also Read: Chris Gayle Takes Break, Unavailable For India ODIs