3 Players who can replace injured Shikhar Dhawan for New Zealand T20I series

It hasn’t been an easy run for Shikhar Dhawan over the eight to ten months or so. The Delhi southpaw has been constantly dealing with injuries and has tended to spend more time recovering from one or the other injury. It started in the World Cup when he fractured his thumb in India’s second game against Australia and was subsequently ruled out of the mega tournament.

Ahead of the series against West Indies at home, he hurt his knee and was ruled out of the T20I and ODI series. After making a good comeback, scoring a fifty against Sri Lanka in a T20I and getting back to back half-centuries against Australia, Dhawan has now injured his shoulder. The left-handed opening batsman dived in the third ODI but landed on his shoulder and was taken for scans immediately.

Moreover, he was seen with a sling in his left arm and now has been ruled out of the T20I series against New Zealand. While KL Rahul is all set to open the innings in Dhawan’s absence, there is a void to be filled. Hence, here are three players who can replace the injured Dhawan in the Indian team for the T20I series in New Zealand.

3 Players who can replace Shikhar Dhawan for New Zealand T20Is:

1. Prithvi Shaw

The last few months haven’t been easy for Prithvi Shaw. After a freak ankle injury ruled him out of the Australia tour in 2018-19, Shaw was suspended for six months for doping. He returned with a bang in November and was looking in great touch before he picked up a shoulder injury in a Ranji Trophy game.

It was reported that he would miss both the warm-up games during India A’s tour to New Zealand but the Mumbai opener was fit in time and played the second game. He smoked a fine 150 which came off just 100 balls. This was after he scored a 179-ball 202 against Baroda in a Ranji game. Shaw looked in good touch even in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

He scored 240 runs at an average of 48.00 and at a strike-rate of 170.21. Hence, given his form, Shaw could well be one of the favourites to replace Shikhar Dhawan in the Indian T20 squad.

2. Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill is rated very highly and ever since his Under-19 days, he has been a prominent run-getter for every team he’s played. It was in New Zealand last year he made his international debut and played a couple of ODI games. However, it didn’t turn out to be a great start for the youngster.

But Gill has the temperament and the game to excel at the highest level. He is a highly-skilled cricketer and has been performing well in domestic cricket. Gill had a good IPL in 2019 and backed it up with a good performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He scored 163 runs at an average of 40.75 and a strike-rate of 142.98 in that tournament.

The Punjab batsman looked in good touch in the warm-up games in New Zealand as well. He has a good career T20 record as well. Gill has also been on the fringes of the Indian side for a while now. Thus, he could be one of the options to replace Shikhar Dhawan in the T20I side for the five-match series.

3. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav has been around for nearly a decade now but hasn’t really come in contention for a spot in the Indian team. He has a good first-class record where he averages 43.68. He has a good T20 record as well. The Mumbai player has a strike-rate of 139.12 and averages 31.37.

But now, his name is doing circles around the Indian domestic circles. Yadav has had an excellent domestic season so far. Irrespective of the format, he’s stood up and scored runs for Mumbai. He made 226 runs from four innings at a strike-rate of 154.79 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Meanwhile, he top-scored for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali as he amassed 392 runs at a strike-rate of 168.96. He scored two fifties and a ton in the Ranji Trophy as well.

Yadav has carried this form to New Zealand and has started the tour well. He has scored 76 runs from two innings (in 50-over cricket) at a strike-rate of 111.76. Hence, he could be the dark horse pick. Yadav has the ability to bat anywhere in the order as he’s shown in the last couple of IPL seasons. He can open and also play in the middle.