Kris Srikkanth wants India to move over Shikhar Dhawan in T20Is and try this particular player

Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth has come out with an opinion that India should back KL Rahul as the first-choice opener in T20Is and as an opener and look beyond Shikhar Dhawan.

This is not the first time that Srikkanth has suggested Rahul to open in T20Is. Last month too he had questioned Dhawan’s ability to shift gears. Currently, Dhawan isn’t part of the team for the West Indies T20Is as he’s nursing an injury.

This time around he has reiterated, “the hosts (India) …. need to slot KL Rahul firmly as an opener and look beyond Dhawan,” Srikkanth wrote in his column for The Times of India. “The need of the hour is instant firepower and that’s one area where India is lacking. Of course, there is (Virat) Kohli and other talents to make up but that might not be enough on the big day, as the team has found out in many ICC tournaments over the last few years.”

The series against West Indies will be India’s third series in four months at home. It began with South Africa which ended one-all, and against Bangladesh, India won 2-1. Srikkanth also said that the Windies series is a good opportunity for the hosts to test themselves before next year’s World Cup.

“The T20 World Cup is a good 10 months away but a series against West Indies should be a good test for this strong Indian team. Hopefully, it will show India areas that require improvement. The recent loss to Bangladesh was an eye-opener in many ways. No team can be taken lightly in this format. All it requires is one massive individual effort to win the day,” he wrote.

He added, “In Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return, India find themselves almost back to full strength. Once Bumrah is back in the mix, the team should be in a fair position to decide the World Cup squad, barring injuries. The bowling unit is almost at full tilt and with (Ravindra) Jadeja coming back, I see good competition among spinners and that should augur well for the captain. Fielding is another area that this unit has improved massively and in more ways than one this series should be the start of a good build-up to the main event.”