India vs Australia: ‘I have gone through that stage, it is not easy,’ Virender Sehwag explains what Shikhar Dhawan needs to do against Australia

Shikhar Dhawan is coming off a brilliant IPL 2020 season, which saw him score 618 runs and emerge as the second highest run-scorer of the tournament, which is perhaps why it was disappointing to see him get out cheaply against Australia in the first T20I in Canberra on Friday. Dhawan was out for 1, clean bowled by Mitchell Starc, who disturbed his off stump.

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It’s not like Dhawan hasn’t fired at all. In the first ODI in Sydney, Dhawan hit 74 and followed it with a score of 30 two days later, with India losing both contests. And now, as the team stands on the verge of a T20I series win in Australia, Dhawan’s contribution will be all the more important, especially given the absence of Rohit Sharma.

Former India batsman Virender Sehwag feels there is no need to read too much into Dhawan’s low score, explaining how Australia isn’t the easiest of places to score runs. Sehwag wants Dhawan, who turned 35 today, to spend some more time on the wicket and get his eye in before playing extravagant shots.

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“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,” Sehwag said on the Sony Sports Network.

Sehwag reckons Dhawan can gain confidence from KL Rahul, believing if his opening partner can get off to a flying start, it should help Dhawan. “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.

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India captain Virat Kohli is known to frequently chop and change India’s Playing XI but Sehwag is confident that Dhawan will not be dropped, plainly because the kind of T20 form he is in. Dhawan became the only player in the history of IPL to register back-to-back IPL centuries for his team, the Delhi Capitals and that is a sign of a man in form, reckons Sehwag.

“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,” explained Sehwag.

“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.”

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