India vs Australia: “He should take his time while playing” – Virender Sehwag advises Shikhar Dhawan

India vs Australia: “He should take his time while playing” – Virender Sehwag advises Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has had a mixed bag in India’s tour of Australia so far. The opener started off on a positive note scoring a half-century in a losing cause in the first ODI. However, in the next two ODIs, the left-hander couldn’t convert good starts into big scores.

In the first T20I, Dhawan was sent packing early on by a scorching delivery by Mitchell Starc. With India having won the first T20I and needing just one more win to seal the series, there have been talks of replacing Dhawan with Mayank Agarwal who was in terrific form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

As Shikhar Dhawan turned 35 today, wishes poured in from the cricketing fraternity and former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag also had a few pieces of advice for the opening batsman.

‘At times it is difficult for an opener to score runs’

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag spoke on the Sony Sports Network about Shikhar Dhawan’s form and backed the left-hander saying, “At times, it is difficult for an opener to score runs at will in these conditions against such a good bowling attack. Because I have gone through that stage, it is not easy to score runs in Australia against the new ball. So, I feel a little more time should be given to Shikhar Dhawan and he should also take his time while playing.”

“When KL Rahul is batting with him, the form he is in, he is scoring runs at a fast pace. So, if Dhawan can just rotate the strike and once the spinners come later on, he can cash in and build a good partnership,” Sehwag added.

Sehwag also stated that Dhawan wouldn’t be dropped. “I don’t think so. Because the sort of experienced player he is, I feel Shikhar Dhawan will and should get more chances. Although in one of the ODIs I think he had scored 25-30 runs but he could not convert that to a big score. But the form he was in the IPL, with two centuries, I don’t think he should be left out for the next two T20Is because he has the experience and when he fires, he will play good cricket and contribute for the team,” he added.

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