Former Indian captain picks Shikhar Dhawan over Shubman Gill for 2023 ODI World Cup

Men in Blue have started their preparations for the 50-over World Cup, which is scheduled to take place next year in India. Team India would look to finalize their best 11 as only nine months remain for the tournament. The major problem for selectors would be to pick the openers between Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, and Shubman Gill. Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar tells that between Dhawan and Gill, the senior statesman should open with Rohit, with Rahul taking middle-order responsibilities.

Dhawan is been the most consistent player in the ODIs since 2019 and has led his side on numerous occasions in the absence of the team’s regular skipper. The recent tour in which he was the captain was against New Zealand. Gill, on the other hand, is trying his best to make his permanent spot in the ODI squad. In 15 ODIs so far, the youngster has scored 687 runs at 57.2 with one century and four fifties. 

But only one of them has the chance to partner Rohit, in the big tournament, and Gavaskar in a conversation with Sony Sports, before the start of the ODI between India and Bangladesh, picked Dhawan over Gill as an opener.

He is a rare talent: Sunil Gavaskar

“You are always looking for a left-right combination. Shikhar brings that left-handedness plus loads of experience that he has got. I think he has a point or two to prove in the sense that he probably might be saying that with the kind of record that he has in T20 cricket he should be playing that as well. So I think it will be a great opportunity with these matches to show that he belongs to this squad and not just when the regulars are away,” he explained.

The former Indian legend said that for Gill to make a breakthrough, he has to score impactful centuries and not get stuck at knocks such as in the 50s and 60s. “This means that someone like Shubman Gill will have to score hundreds and hundreds. Not the 50s and 60s that he is getting. He is a terrific talent, make no mistake. He is a rare talent. But he is not doing justice to his talent by getting out in the 50s or 60s. Yes sometimes I understand that you are kind of trying to up the scoring rate but he has got to convert those 50s and 60s into impact hundreds and 120. Those knocks make a difference to the result.”