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Former India coach Ravi Shastri feels that mostly players like Virat Kohli remain in the limelight while veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan “does not get the appreciation he deserves” despite doing well as a player and captain.
Dhawan, who is leading the Indian team in the three-match ODI series in New Zealand, hit a blistering 72 off 77 balls at the top of the order on Friday and stitched a 124-run partnership for the first wicket with Shubman Gill.
Impressed by left-handed batsman Dhawan’s innings, Shastri said on broadcaster ‘Prime Video’, “He is a very experienced player.” He doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves.’ But if you look at his record in ODI cricket, you will find some innings in which he has played big matches against top teams, which is a great record.
Shastri said the 36-year-old opening batsman has all kinds of shots to achieve success against the best fast bowlers. He said, “The presence of a left-handed batsman in the top order makes a lot of difference. A natural stroke player, he has all kinds of shots like pull shot, cut shot and drive shot to counter top class fast bowling. When the ball comes to the bat, he likes to play it and I think his experience here will be very useful.
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Shastri had termed Dhawan as a ‘gun player’ in his formative years. He said, “There are a lot of talented young players, but I think his (Dhawan’s) experience in this format of the game will be very important.” Dhawan has more than 6500 runs in ODIs. This is not the first time that Dhawan is captaining the team, he has led the Indian team earlier also in which he won 2-1 against Sri Lanka, 2-1 against South Africa and 3-0 against West Indies. Got good results. Dhawan was recently handed over the captaincy of the Indian Premier League team Punjab Kings.
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