IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra Wants Shikhar Dhawan To Bat Fearlessly And Replicate His Performances Of The Last Season

Former Indian opening batsman Aakash Chopra hopes for bigger things from Shikhar Dhawan in IPL 2021. Shikhar Dhawan will reprise his role as the opener alongside Prithvi Shaw for the Delhi Capitals, who reached their first final last year in the UAE. Aakash Chopra wishes for the left-handed batsman to bat fearlessly.

Shikhar Dhawan copped a harsh treatment in the recently-concluded T20 series against England as he faced an axe after failing in the first game. Despite the 34-year old shining in IPL 2020 and the T20 matches in Australia, the team management did not persist with Dhawan for long. Moreover, Virat Kohli played a belligerent knock in the fifth T20I and Ishan Kishan impressed on his debut as well.

Nevertheless, Dhawan’s lean run did not extend as he slammed two half-centuries in the subsequent ODI series against England. The Delhi-born cricketer was the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2020, clattering 618 runs in 17 fixtures 44.14 with a strike rate of 144.73. The southpaw managed four fifties and two centuries, scoring two centuries consecutively – becoming the first batsman in the history of IPL to do so.

He has a point to prove because he must feel slightly hard done by: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra wants Shikhar Dhawan to bat fearlessly as he feels the southpaw would have a point to prove after being dropped from the T20I team. The 43-year old recognized that based on his performances in white-ball cricket, he got the nod and did well in Australia, but never played after the first match against England. Hence, Aakash believes that one can only help by letting their bat talk; thus, he wants Dhawan to pick up from where he left off in 2020.

“I would love to see an absolutely fearless Shikhar Dhawan. He has a point to prove because he must feel slightly hard done by. After what he did in the IPL, he was picked for white-ball cricket. He played in Australia and then played only a single game, the first game against England at Ahmedabad and then was benched for the remaining games. The only thing you can do as a player is to let the bat do the talking. So that’s what I am expecting from Shikhar Dhawan, just replicate what he has done in the previous season,” Chopra told Star Sports.

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