IND vs SA: Rahul Dravid Made The Difficult Decision To Bench Shikhar Dhawan For The T20I Series Against South Africa - BCCI Official

According to a top BCCI official, head coach Rahul Dravid chose to look beyond Shikhar Dhawan, and the selectors agreed. According to the official, the former India skipper told Dhawan of his non-selection before the selectors convened on Sunday.

Shikhar Dhawan’s return to the Indian T20I lineup for the South Africa series sparked a lot of speculation, given regulars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were expected to be sidelined to be ready and fly to England early for the postponed fifth Test match.

Dhawan was backed by a large number of people. For the seventh consecutive campaign in the IPL, the left-hander has scored more than 450 runs. Dhawan has been so good at the top of the lineup for any team that his 460 runs in 14 matches in the IPL 2022 were his lowest in six years. During an IPL season, he typically scores more than 500 runs.

According to reports, the left-hander had been in alignment to be named captain of the side for the five-match T20 series against South Africa, but the selectors’ choice to continue KL Rahul in the team may have changed the scheme of things, as the right-hander was given command of the 18-member India squad sans Dhawan.

‘For nearly a decade, Shikhar Dhawan has been a terrific servant to Indian cricket: BCCI

According to a top BCCI official, head coach Rahul Dravid chose to look beyond Dhawan, and the selectors approved. According to the source, before the selectors convened on Sunday, the former India skipper told Dhawan of his non-selection.

“For more than a decade, Shikhar Dhawan has been an outstanding servant of Indian cricket. In the T20s, however, you must give young players a chance. We all agreed that Rahul should make the difficult decision. Before the selection was named on Sunday, Rahul informed Shikhar,” a senior BCCI official said.

The five-match T20I series between India and South Africa will begin on June 9 in New Delhi.

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