Dinesh Karthik Praises Dhawan: Veteran India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik lavished praise on Shikhar Dhawan and went on to say that “he is definitely a starter for the World Cup”.
Dinesh Karthik Praises Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan has been named as the captain of the Indian cricket team for the India tour of New Zealand 2022 where they are scheduled to play 3 ODI matches.
In the scheduled three-match ODI series, New Zealand won the first match and leads the series while the second match has been abandoned. In the first ODI match, Dhawan and Gill made a pretty decent partnership and scored 124 runs for the first wicket.
Dhawan scored 72 runs and helped India to reach 306 runs which New Zealand chased with 17 balls left.
“I think so. From the kind of vibe I get, he is definitely a starter for the World Cup. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be having him around. He is on the other side of his 30s and they could have easily moved on from him. Just the fact that they have him shows that they are very keen about having him in the ODI team,” Karthik said.
“He has been a gun player in ICC tournaments, somebody who rises to the occasion and he plays at a fair clip consistently. Even in the 2019 World Cup, he really did well before getting injured. So, he is somebody you can bank on unless something drastically changes in terms of his form completely falling off,” he added.
Karthik further stated that Dhawan can be trusted as an opening batter as he is well aware of his game plan.
Apart from leading India in Rohit’s absence, Dhawan has been named as the captain of Punjab Kings as they released Mayank Agarwal ahead of the IPL 2023 Auction.
“He is somebody you can trust as an opener as he knows his game plan. He uses the crease really well, he has got everything to play for, and most importantly, it would be another chance for him to lead a team before the IPL and that is something he will be looking forward to,” said Karthik.
The third match of the series will be played on November 30 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
