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Has Rahul Dravid Shut The Door On Shikhar Dhawan’s Return?

The Indian national team ended their five-match T20I series against South Africa last night with the teams leveled at 2-2. Both the nations ended up sharing the trophy after the final match was washed out due to rain at Bengaluru. With South Africa’s tour to India done and dusted, Rahul Dravid’s men will now shift their focus to the upcoming T20I matches against Ireland.

The Men in Blue are all set to play two T20Is against the minnows in June before beginning their tour to England. India’s apex cricket governing body had earlier decided to announce two different squads for their upcoming tours. While most of the senior players in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja set to feature against England, the other Indian team consist of young players and will be given the lock horns against Ireland.

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The team announced for the 2 match T20I series against Ireland will see Hardik Pandya captain the team which is filled with cricketers that came up with solid performances in the Indian Premier League. Most of the players who featured in the recently concluded South Africa’s tour to India have retained their slot in the T20 side. However, one star who missed out on being in both the teams despite coming out strong in India’s cash rich tournament is Shikhar Dhawan.

Dhawan has been one of the most consistent performers in the IPL with the dashing openers amassing over 450+ runs in every season of the tournament since 2016. He ended the IPL 2022 with 460 runs against his name giving Punjab Kings a solid start right at the top. Despite his solid outing, the 36-year-old missed out on getting called up for the national team in 2 consecutive tours.

What’s on Rahul Dravid’s mind?

Dhawan’s exclusion form both the squads is a major indicator that Dravid and co don’t expect the dashing opener to be part of the Indian team ahead of the highly anticipated ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The Indian head coach has opted to feature youngsters over the experienced campaigner with the head coach looking to build a team for the future.

Former Indian opener and World Cup winner, Sunil Gavaskar has also echoed the same opinion stating that it would be very difficult for Dhawan to make a come back in the national team now. At 36 years of age, Dhawan is at the end of his career and would be looking to don the Indian jersey one final time before hanging up his boots. With a lot of hurdles in his way, it remains interesting to see what the future holds for Dhawan.

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