IND vs BAN: No Place For Shikhar Dhawan If India Have Decided Our Par Score Will Be 325-350 Runs- Saba Karim

Former Indian wicketkeeper Saba Karim believes that Shikhar Dhawan should only be used if the Indian team management believes that 275–300 is the par score for them. He claims that Dhawan isn’t the type of player who can make significant contributions with a strike rate of 130–140.

Ishan Kishan’s double hundred in the last One-Day International against Bangladesh on Saturday, which India won by 227 runs, added a fresh wrinkle to the discussion around India’s opening position in the 50-over format. India scored 409/8 in 50 overs while batting first, with 210 (131) runs coming off Ishan’s bat.

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During a Sony Sports discussion,Saba Karim was asked if he envisions Dhawan playing 50-over cricket in the future, to which he replied:

“It will be up to the team management to decide what kind of cricket they want to play.” If the team administration still believes that 275-300 is their target, then Shikhar Dhawan is the player to have.”

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Saba Karim believes the experienced opener does not deserve a berth in the starting XI if India is to score more than 325. He expanded:

“It’s a different story that he hasn’t scored a run this series. But if you give him another chance and tell him that we only need to score 275-300, Shikhar Dhawan’s spot will be secure until the World Cup. But if we’ve decided that our par score would be 325-350, Dhawan is out.”

“We have to achieve a lot”: Saba Karim

Saba Karim also made an audacious assertion about Dhawan’s strike rate, claiming that maintaining a speed of 130-140 is not his game. Saba Karim also recommended the management look into other options for Dhawan, naming a few in addition to Ishan.

“So a lot will depend on the selectors and the team management, the captain, that what expectation you have. If you expect that Shikhar Dhawan will play a big knock at a strike rate of 130-140 in a 350-run game, it is not going to happen.”

“I feel in the coming times, we have to achieve a lot. I feel we are two to three years behind in white-ball cricket and to get there we will need new players, players like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Prithvi Shaw,” Saba Karim added.

Kishan’s belligerent knock on Saturday will certainly make it difficult for Dhawan to hold on to his spot in India’s ODI side.

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