EXCLUSIVE | Shikhar Dhawan's 'Chapter Is Over', Kapil Dev Predicts Future As Opener Is Dropped From T20 WC Squad

ICC T20 WC Squad: Kapil Dev, while speaking on ABP News said that Dhawan's non-selection would mean that it would be the end of the road for him in international cricket.

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ICC T20 World Cup: India announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. As expected, there were many surprises in the team and a major change in the top order. Shikhar Dhawan was dropped and in place of him KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav were picked as top-order batsmen along with Kohli and Rohit. 

The 1983 Cricket World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, while speaking on ABP News said that Dhawan's non-selection would mean that it would be the end of the road for him in international cricket. Kapil Dev's assessment stems from the fact that the Indian talent pool has become so big that selecting a 15-member team has become a herculean task, and thus, Shikhar Dhawan finding a place among a plethora of young talented cricketers is a tad bit difficult. 

It has to be noted that he was speaking on ABP News before the team news was out. "Youngsters can be given a chance later because this is the ultimate World Cup. We need experience," said Kapil Dev stressing on the need of having Dhawan in the team. In the same breath, Kapil Dev also spoke about what would happen if Dhawan is not picked.

Kapil Dev said, "If they (selectors) don’t include him in the team, then his chapter is over, new players would come!"

Watch the video here: 

The Delhi opener might have been left out of the team due to the "conservative" approach to his batting as reported by Sportskeeda. Nonetheless, Dhawan has 380 runs from 8 matches that he has played in the IPL 2021 so far and he can still think of making a strong comeback in the side, just like Ravichandran Ashwin did. 

Team India 15-member Squad: Virat Kohli [Captain], Rohit Sharma [Vice Captain], KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami.