Ajit Agarkar Has His Say On Shikhar Dhawan's Potential India Comeback

Ajit Agarkar had his say on Shikhar Dhawan's potential India comeback during the Asia Cup 2023 squad announcement press conference.

Shikhar Dhawan last played for India in December 2022.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's 17-member Asia Cup squad on Monday (August 18). While the squad was largely along expected lines, the team management tried to cover all bases selecting a good bunch of openers, middle-order batters, all-rounders and bowlers, also keeping in mind the batting depth and the right and left-hand combination. Unfortunately though a few players had to miss out including veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Having said that Dhawan wasn't really in the scheme of things, given that he last donned the national colours in December. However, when the chief of the men's senior selection committee Ajit Agarkar was asked about the southpaw's potential India comeback, he said that there are only as many openers that one can go ahead with and with the kind of form the likes of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan have shown and Rohit Sharma with the experience that he has and the being the captain of the side, there is no place for Dhawan.

"Rohit is not a bad player, Shubman has had a phenomenal year. Ishan Kishan (is another one). Shikhar has been a terrific player for India. At the moment three guys are doing well and you can fit only 15. Unfortunately someone has to sit. At the moment these are our preferred openers," Agarkar said at the press conference in New Delhi on Monday.

Meanwhile, while initial reports had suggested that Dhawan could actually be named the captain of the second-string side that competes in Asian Games, eventually he did not even find a place in the team. In an interview, he did say that he was surprised to see his name missing but remained hopeful of his comeback in the national side.

India Squad For Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Traveling stand-by player: Sanju Samson