Bangladesh vs India : Ishan Kishan put the final nail in the coffin of Shikhar Dhawan's ODI career
Ishan Kishan has become the talk of the town ever since he became the fourth Indian to score an ODI double ton with his knock against Bangladesh in the final ODI of the three-match series.
Image credit: PA Images Ishan Kishan's knock will ramp up pressure on Shikhar Dhawan.Such a knock will naturally make anyone sit up and take attention, but the destructive manner in which Kishan went about with his innings made it even more noteworthy.
After all, his double ton was the fastest one scored in the history of ODI cricket – eclipsing the record set by a particular Universe Boss, i.e. Chris Gayle.
But it also showed India that there is another way to bat, especially in the early stages of a white ball game.
Kishan played with aggression and intent and never took his foot off the peddle. By stark contrast, his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan got out for three off eight balls.
It rounded off what was an extremely forgettable tour for Dhawan, who is now seen solely as a player for the 50-over format.
It’s an unusual spot for a player to be in – most players are segregated into white or red ball categories.
Even the players who are only given chances in one format of the white ball game are usually T20 specialists.
On the other hand, Dhawan is now seen solely as an ODI specialist, a man whose batting style is best suited to getting runs in the 50-over format.
But Kishan’s knock will suddenly ramp up the pressure on Dhawan, whose recent innings have seen him not only fail to score runs but also see an alarming drop in his strike rate.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">24-year-old Ishan Kishan is in good company.<br><br>More ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/HyWnNsrx6b">https://t.co/HyWnNsrx6b</a> <a href="https://t.co/CSRqfHrOUF">pic.twitter.com/CSRqfHrOUF</a></p>— ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1601962635892871169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Dhawan’s numbers in this series make for grim reading – in three innings, he’s scored 18 runs at an average of six and a strike rate of 51.42.
A look at his overall numbers in the calendar year 2022 suggests an apparent drop-off in form.
In 22 matches played, he’s scored 688 runs at an average of 34.40 and a strike rate of 74.21, with six fifties and no hundreds.
It’s a stark drop-off from his career numbers, which have seen him score an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 91.35.
So it’s clear not only to the eyes but also by his stats that Dhawan is declining. In that case, India has two choices regarding the Dhawan conundrum.
They can either drop him now and give Kishan a longer rope, or they can stick with Dhawan until the World Cup and then take a call on his future.
History suggests the BCCI will take the latter option, as experience is often given precedence when taking calls regarding team selection.
But history has also shown that this isn’t always the right way to go, and Kishan’s knock has suddenly ramped up the pressure even more on Dhawan.
How the veteran responds and what the board chooses to do in the future could be critical to India’s 2023 World Cup chances.