Shikhar Dhawan Available For Sri Lanka T20Is After Clearing Fitness Tests

Things have not gone in the right direction for Shikhar Dhawan in recent times. The India opener has been struggling for runs since returning to action during the West Indies tour. He had suffered an unfortunate injury in the World Cup that cut short his tournament. Prior to suffering the injury, Shikhar Dhawan had scored a match-winning century against Australia.

But his recent form has left a lot to be desired. He failed to get going in West Indies and although, he got starts against Bangladesh at home, he could not capitalise on them. To make things worse, Shikhar Dhawan also struggled to maintain a good strike-rate. And as if those were not enough, he suffered an injury setback that ruled him out of the T20I and ODI series against West Indies.

But the left-handed batsman will have a chance to regain his best form next month as he has cleared all the fitness tests. The southpaw is available for selection for the T20I series against Sri Lanka next month and is more than likely to be named in the squad. Dhawan himself took to Instagram to confirm the news of passing the fitness test, writing:

“Weekend vibes with @ishant.sharma29 ???? Have cleared all the fitness tests and looking forward to go back to the field and play some good cricket. ?”

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A post shared by Shikhar Dhawan (@shikhardofficial)

Dilemma for team-management:

While Shikhar Dhawan is likely to be named in the team for the Sri Lanka series, it would be interesting to see whether he gets into the playing straightaway. Before the injury, he was the number one choice to open alongside Rohit Sharma. However, his recent struggles has coincided with the fine form of KL Rahul who has been opening the innings in the former’s absence.

Rahul scored 164 runs in the three T20Is against West Indies with the help of two fifties and scored a century in the second ODI. Dhawan is more than likely to open the innings against Australia in the ODIs but it would not be surprising if the team-management prefers Rahul to open the innings in the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

India play three T20Is (against Sri Lanka) and three ODIs (against Australia) in January before flying to New Zealand. The thee T20Is will be played on January 5, 7 and 10 in Guwahati, Indore and Pune, respectively. Mumbai, Rajkot and Bengaluru will host the three ODIs on January 14, 17 and 19, respectively.

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