Way Gill is playing; I will pick him ahead of myself: Shikhar
- New Delhi: Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday said he would pick Shubman Gill over himself in the national side, given the young cricketer's form with the bat of late. Gill has been in sublime form in all three formats this season, with the 23-year-old virtually securing his place in the side for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. Dhawan, at present, finds himself out of Favour due to a dip in form.
- Dhawan, a veteran of 167 ODIS, who would still be eyeing a place in the Indian team for the ODI World Cup, said: "I feel the way Shubman is (playing). Like he was playing two formats and performing well in Tests and T20s. He was playing more matches in the international circuit, and I wasn't... If I were the select- or then definitely would have given the chance to Shubman. Would have selected Shubman over Shikhar."
- Dhawan added that while skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid had ear- lier backed him and told him to focus on the ODI World Cup, a dip in form, coupled with Gill's ascendency, has seen him lose his place in the side. "When Rohit took over the captaincy, he along with Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup.
- "2022 was very good for me, I was consistent in ODIs.But there is this young guy who has been doing well in two formats, and when my form dipped in a series or two then they gave a chance to Shubman and he has lived up to their expectation.
- "We are used to such sit- uation. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, then, for a moment, I thought I could be out of the team," said Dhawan.
- Dhawan, who last played a 50-over game in December last year, said if the team management takes a call on a particular player's spot in the side, a lot of thought goes into it, adding that there was nothing new in him being dropped. "There are times when you play well through- out the year and then your form drops for one month or two, sometimes that becomes bigger than your performance throughout the year," said Dhawan.