'Don't see the point of his inclusion, what's the need?' - Saba Karim reckons India should exclude Shikhar Dhawan for South Africa ODIs

Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim feels that it will make little sense to include Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI squad for the upcoming South Africa series as the opening slot of India is already a crowded place.

Dhawan, who has lost his place in the Test team, has also fallen out of favour in India’s limited-overs set up in the recent past, having missed out on being named in the 2021 T20 World Cup squad before being ignored for the home series against New Zealand despite a host of first-choice players being rested.

India preferred the duo of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul at the World Cup, whereas with youngsters Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw and Venkatesh Iyer rising the ranks quickly, it remains to be seen whether or not will Dhawan get a chance to revive his international career.

“Even if Dhawan is there in the squad, will he be part of the playing XI? KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have opened in Tests and T20s, so I think they will open in ODIs as well. So, if you are including Dhawan in the squad and not playing him, should he be in the team? I don’t see the point of his inclusion, what is the need?” Karim said while speaking on the Khelneeti podcast on YouTube.

Dhawan can be given one more opportunity because he’s an experienced player: Saba Karim

Dhawan played his last ODI against Sri Lanka earlier this year when he led a second-string team as the main squad was in the United Kingdom for the five-match Test series against England. However, he has not been in the best of forms ever since then, as he could manage only 207 runs in eight innings in the second leg of 2021 IPL, while his scores in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy read 0, 12, 14, 18.

“The only thing possible is the left hand-right hand combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. It has been a formidable partnership as well,” Karim added as he highlighted the only thing in Dhawan’s favour at the moment.

“It would be difficult for Dhawan to come back into this side. I still think that he should be given one more opportunity because he is a big player with experience. Have to see what the selectors and the team management think. I don’t think Delhi will qualify for the knockouts, so Dhawan has to prove by scoring runs and he only has one more match to do so.”