Shikhar Dhawan replacement for West Indies ODIs: The tried and tested opening batsman has been ruled out of the ODI series.
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India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the three-match home ODI series against West Indies. The 34-year old player suffered a knee injury during the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Surat.
Dhawan, whose T20I strike rate had started to raise concerns for India of late, was below par in the domestic tournament with scores of 0 (9), 9 (6), 19 (18), 35 (33) and 24 (22) in the five matches that he played.
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Having said that, ODIs still remain Dhawan’s most preferred format as far as numbers are concerned. Having scored 1,648 runs in 39 ODIs at an average of 49.08 and a strike rate of 99.03 including six centuries and five half-centuries, the southpaw is India’s third-highest scorer in the last two years.
Shikhar Dhawan replacement for West Indies ODIs
Reports of Dhawan missing the West Indies ODIs had been doing the rounds since yesterday. There were also murmurs with respect to either of Mayank Agarwal, Sanju Samson and Prithvi Shaw being named as Dhawan’s replacement.
Agarwal, who received a maiden ODI call-up during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, has been recalled into the squad as a like-for-like replacement for Dhawan.
Having scored 754 runs in eight Tests this year at an average of 68.54 including three centuries and two half-centuries, Agarwal seems to be the apt batsman to get an ODI call-up. Having missed an ODI debut during the World Cup, the right-hand batsman would be looking to don the ODI cap this month.
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Currently playing for Karnataka in the prestigious Ranji Trophy, Agarwal was part of the winning Karnataka side which lifted the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this month.
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