Australia vs India: Speculations of Shikhar Dhawan making a Test comeback spark

Shikhar Dhawan hasn’t had the best of years thus far, especially in Test cricket where he has strained to find his feet. In a number of instances, he has got off to impressive starts but hasn’t been able to convert them, much to his disappointment. Albeit, his form in limited-overs cricket has been exceptional, he hasn’t been able to adjust to the dynamics of red-ball cricket.

He had an indifferent outing in England after which the national selectors ran out of patience with the 33-year-old and dropped him for the two-match series against Windies in October. To add to his agony, he couldn’t find a place in the 18-man squad for the ongoing Test series against Tim Paine’s Australia, which is currently level at 1-1 with a couple of matches remaining.

Dhawan to be included?

Meanwhile, speculations of Dhawan making a Test comeback have suddenly come to the fore. The Delhi-born cricketer was spotted in the Indian team’s hotel and was also seen carrying his kitbag as per reports in The Mumbai Mirror. Earlier, he played the T20I series against the Aussies and stayed back in Australia. He stays in Melbourne with his family during the off-season.

For the time being, there’s no confirmation whether he should be included or not, but it won’t spring a surprise if he’s drafted into the squad bearing in mind the abject state of India’s top order. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul have played both the matches in Adelaide and Perth respectively. However, both haven’t been able to get the measure of the conditions and the Australian bowling.

Rahul looked good for a brief while in the second innings of the opening encounter. Unfortunately, he perished to a loose stroke. To add insult to India’s injury, Prithvi Shaw twisted his ankle during the warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI in Sydney and was ruled out of the series. Mayank Agarwal, who has been waiting in the wings, has been roped in as his replacement.

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