Team India should persist with Dhawan for Test series: Gaekwad

Chennai: India’s shocking ODI series defeat to New Zealand has set tongues wagging about the future of a few players and opener Shikhar Dhawan’s spot seems to be the raging topic.

The fact that he hasn’t scored a half-century in the last five ODI innings forced the team management to drop the left-hander for the must-win fourth ODI on Tuesday and his much-discussed susceptibility against short-pitched deliveries could put him in further trouble ahead of the Test series starting from February 6.

Dhawan is not among runs in the longer format either with his last four innings reading — 13, 15, 29 and 19, but former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad says the Delhi dasher must be backed by the team management.

“If I were a coach, I would definitely play him in the first Test. He is a proven performer with bat. It is not that Dhawan alone has failed miserably in this tour and it’s too early to write him off,” said Gaekwad. 

If the team management feels the same way as Gaekwad, Dhawan could return for the final ODI to reinforce some confidence. “Whether he plays the last one-dayer or not, the reason why I feel he needs to play the first Test is that there is no pressure of maintaining run-rate in Tests. It’s a different ball game. He can bat for long time and get into form during the match,” said the former India opener.

With the top order failing to fire, the thought of Gautam Gambhir coming back into the scheme of things would be lingering on many minds. Gaekwad said: “Gambhir is a class player and he can definitely return. For batsmen, age is just a number and it’s all about form.”