‘You have to give Shikhar Dhawan importance’: Former India selector slams BCCI’s handling of the cricketer – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Former India cricketer and selector Saba Karim expressed his unhappiness over the manner in which the BCCI has treated veteran Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan. Karim has slammed BCCI for the frequent changes in captaincy.

After a successful ODI series against West Indies, Dhawan was declared the captain for the ODI series against Zimbabwe. But once KL Rahul was declared fit, he was named the captain, and Dhawan was demoted as his deputy. Dhawan has already been left out of T20I and Test squads without any explanations.

Karim questioned the reason behind naming Rahul as the captain, since he is coming back from an injury and after quite a long break.

“KL Rahul should have played the series only as a member, making him captain or vice-captain is not that important. He is coming after a long break. Shikhar Dhawan is a senior member of the squad who has delivered in white-ball cricket. You have to give him importance once you make the announcement as captain,” Karim told India News Sports.

Karim also praised Dhawan’s captaincy against the Men-in-Maroon wherein India won the series 3-0. Dhawan also performed well with the bat, despite of a lack of surety in his future selections.

“I would like to add that Shikhar led the side very well against West Indies in the ODI series. He was also decent with the bat. India whitewashed the series with a bunch of youngsters. A lot of them performed very well under his captaincy. Dhawan looked in complete control, whether it was the field setup, tactics, or strategy. He inspired the youngsters as a leader.”

Karim further explained that such a change in captaincy announcements might impact the morale of the player.

“The kind of change in captaincy trend is strange and questionable. Such decisions need to be taken very cautiously. There is no need to rush as it is associated with a team environment, you need to build the team spirit. A captain begins to think about his plans for upcoming matches and then you suddenly make a change. It affects the morale of the cricketer.”

Dhawan, however, is seen as someone who does not let such things get on his mind, and moves forward taking such things in his stride.

KL Rahul-led India will face Zimbabwe in three ODIs starting on 18 August.

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