'This is not something new in cricket' - Veteran opening batter opens up on youngsters replacing him in Indian team

Shubman Gill & Ishan Kishan (Image credit: Twitter)

India's top opening batter for the past several years, Shikhar Dhawan is now nowhere in the scheme of things in the Indian cricket team, as it seems. The 37-year-old was left out of T20Is and Tests but has been India's mainstay in ODIs. However, following a string of unimpressive performances in December, the Indian Cricket Board decided to replace him with youngsters even in the 50-over format. Dhawan's hopes of making a comeback in the international team look difficult now, but the veteran batter wants to prepare himself for any opportunity that comes his way.

Dhawan played his last Test against England in September 2018 and has not been on the radar of Indian selectors since then. He was named India's captain for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka in 2021 but was left out of the 20-20 World Cup squad in the UAE, eventually closing his door in the shortest format. The selectors decided to play Dhawan only in ODIs, but his recent performances have forced them to welcome the young guns. The Delhi-born player managed to score just 186 runs at an average of 18.6 from his last 10 outings.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, Dhawan opened up about his omission from the Indian team and said that it was a fair call from the selectors, captain and coach.

"This is not something new in cricket. Or this happened just with me, plenty others have met with same fate. There are times when you play well throughout the year and then your form drops for one month or two, sometimes that becomes bigger than your performance throughout the year. When a captain, coach and selector take a decision they put plenty of thoughts into it."

'We are used to such situation': Dhawan

Ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Indian team management took a bold decision to ditch the experience and go for youth in the form of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan. However, the move proved to be the right one as both the youngsters shone with scintillating double centuries in the 50-over contest.

Commenting on Gill and Kishan being preferred over him, Dhawan said when his form dipped in a series or two, the selectors gave the youngsters a chance and they lived up to their expectations.

"When Rohit took over the captaincy he along with Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup. When my form dipped in a series or two then they gave a chance to Shubman and he has lived up to their expectation. We are used to such situation. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, then for a moment I thought I could be out of the team," said Dhawan.

Dhawan will lead the Punjab franchise in the Indian T20 League, which begins on March 31, and will be aiming to perform well in the tournament to keep his hopes of an international comeback alive.