Injured Shikhar Dhawan likely to miss ODI series against West Indies: Reports

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan could miss the upcoming India-West Indies three-match ODI series having not being recovered well from the knee injury he sustained during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match. Dhawan, who was named in the T20I and ODI squad for the West Indies series, has already missed the 3-match T20I series due to the same injury.

KL Rahul elevated himself to open the innings along with Rohit Sharma in the T20 series against West India. India won the Hyderabad T20 by 6 wickets while they lost the second match at Thiruvananthapuram. The third and deciding match of the series will be played at Mumbai on December 12, 2019.

“Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed M ushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him on Tuesday to review the healing of his wound. The BCCI Medical Team has suggested that Dhawan needs some more time for his stitches to come off and his wound to heal completely,” the BCCI had previously stated.

While the official statement has not come out yet, a report published in the Bangalore Mirror has mentioned that Dhawan needs more time to recover from the injury and the selection committee is likely to name a replacement before the first ODI on December 15.

Sanju Samson was brought in as a replacement of Shikhar Dhawan before the start of the T20 series but he is yet to feature in the starting eleven of team India. Shivam Dube has performed well in the second T20 while Rishabh Pant continues to guard the stumps.

Shikhar Dhawan’s exclusion from the ODI series could land a golden opportunity for Sanju Samson to prove himself on top of the batting squad. Another major challenge could come from talented youngsters like Shubhman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal if Sanju Samson somehow misses to grab the position in the playing eleven.