'Being in And Out of Indian Team Must Have Bothered Him': Irfan Pathan Says Opener Has to Prove Himself as Captain in IPL 2023

It was not long before that Shikhar Dhawan was the unofficial second in command to Rohit Sharma in India’s ODI setup. Whenever, Rohit was unavailable to play an ODI, Dhawan would assume the role of the captain.

Fast forward to 2023, a certain Shubman Gill has sealed his spot as India’s first-choice opener alongside Rohit in ODIs with Dhawan pushed to the sidelines.

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With the ODI World Cup set to played in India later this year, these are crucial few months for Dhawan to stake his claim for an international return. And therefor, the ongoing IPL 2023 provides him a bright chance to make that happen.

This season,  the lefty is captaining Punjab Kings who started the campaign with back-to-back victories – just the third time in their history. In both the matches, Dhawan has produced solid performances, especially against Wednesday night’s thrilling win over Rajasthan Royals.

Dhawan top-scored for PBKS with 86 off 56, an innings that featured nine fours and three sixes. Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan praised the top-order batter for his twin shows while pointing out he must’ve been impacted by being consistently pushed in and out of the national team.

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“Shikhar Dhawan is a senior player in IPL and has been very consistent with the bat too,” Pathan said on Star Sports. “He’s a very powerful player who possesses a very strong mind. He has to prove himself as a captain this year and for that his batting is essential. Being in and out of the Indian team must have bothered him and that’s why he would like to prove that he is still the real Gabbar of Indian cricket.”

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Dhawan himself seems to be pleased with his performances so far.

“These two matches, we’ve gotten a great start playing well and I’m doing my best to increase my strike-rate. The wicket brings momentum back quickly. This year we have a deep batting line-up so we keep momentum going hitting boundaries and put pressure on the other team,” Dhawan said after starring in a five-run win over RR.

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