After missing the last game of the recently concluded Sri Lanka, India’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan will miss the first three matches of the upcoming 5-match ODI series against Australia as his wife is unwell and he wants to be next to her.
When Shikhar Dhawan left the Lanka tour midway to be with his mother, the BCCI had sent a statement which read: “Shikhar Dhawan would be leaving for India tomorrow i.e. September 3rd to see his ailing mother. Dhawan’s mother is stable and is recovering well at the moment.”
Shikhar Dhawan was in great run scoring form in the Test and ODI series against Sri Lanka. He was India’s highest run scorer in the Test series and played a couple of match winning knocks in ODIs.
Coming back to the upcoming ODI series against Australia, the All-India Senior Selection Committee has decided not to name any replacement for Shikhar Dhawan in Indian Cricket Team as the squad already has 16 players.
The BCCI statement read: “Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan has requested to be released from the team for the first three ODIs of the Paytm Australia tour of India, 2017 to attend to his wife, who is unwell. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has decided not to name any replacement for Dhawan in Indian Cricket Team.”
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Now, this means that either Ajinkya Rahane or KL Rahul will open the innings with Rohit Sharma. Dhawan’s absence will be a big loss because he has been in very good form off later and loves batting against Australia. However, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane are top quality batsmen and one of them will replace the Delhi batsman at the top of the batting order.
India’s squad for the first three ODIs against Australia: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami
