Shikhar Dhawan has added a whole new gear to his T20 batting, as evidenced by his return to the IPL, especially from the middle of the 2019 season. In IPL 2020, he was ESPNcricinfo's leader on the smart runs chart, beating the league's top scorer KL Rahul.
Ever since his turnaround in IPL began, with an unbeaten 97 off 63 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders in the first half of IPL 2019, Dhawan has turned into a batsman. Since that game, he leads the IPL run tally, with 1367 runs in 35 matches at an average of 45.56 and a strike rate of 141.95. Only AB de Villiers among the top 10 run scorers has the highest strike rate.
And yet, Dhawan will currently not find a place in India's first choice T20I XI. The last time he played for India in the format was in March 2021 against England in the first of the five-match series. There were 4 off 12 runs in a poor outing and Dhawan was benched for the last four T20Is. Virat Kohli opted to move up the order in the final game and indicated that he was likely to continue his pairing with Rohit Sharma at the top, with the team's other openers missing a place with at least four contenders do. Now there are two spots where Kohli is also eyeing the opening.
In that context, India's upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka is more important than usual for Dhawan. While he has been brilliant in the IPL, in the same time-frame, his performances in T20 Internationals have been phenomenal. He has featured in only 15 T20Is out of 28 played by India in that time. Furthermore, his average (25.92) and strike rate (117.47) are decidedly below-par over that period. So for this series, apart from being India's captain, Dhawan would also like to lead in batting.
"It is very important. Of course any international match has its impact and whenever you perform at the international level it makes a huge impact," Dhawan said on Saturday on the eve of the first T20 match. "So on a personal note, I'm really looking forward to performing here and cementing my place for the World Cup claim. Then we'll see how it pans out in the future."
Captain Dhawan also has clear targets for the series. India picked up new players in the third and final ODI, winning the first two and sealing the series. Dhawan hinted that something similar could happen in T20Is as well.
Dhawan said, 'We have to win the series. The last ODI was a good opportunity to give a chance to some youngsters and get a taste of international cricket as we have already won the series. "We will definitely go with our best XI first. We will try to win the first two matches, and then depending on the situation, we can experiment in the last game if needed.
"If we win two matches, we have options to play any combination we want. Otherwise, our main goal is to play the best XI to win the series. That is our first priority. After that, if we make it our We can seal like we have done in ODIs, we can think of experimenting."
Dhawan expressed confidence in his young team, who are more familiar with high-intensity T20 cricket than ODIs because of the IPL. He pointed to Sri Lanka's better performance in the second and third ODIs and more familiarity with the Indians on the tour, which would make T20Is a good competition.
"Of course they are ready, so here they are," Dhawan said. "As you saw, the youngsters have done so well in the ODI series, so they will carry that confidence in the T20I series. You will see them perform really well. As a team, we have created an amazing environment here. Really looking forward to do well as a team. Not just youngsters, even senior players are looking forward to it.
"I think the competition will be good. You saw the Sri Lankan team improve a lot in the last two (ODI) matches. They played really well and they are a good team with a lot of youngsters. We both have already played. Now There are three matches, so both the teams know each other's strengths and weaknesses. That's a good thing, and it will add to the challenge."