Kolkata: Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan would be out of action for the first three ODI’s in the upcoming home series against Australia after he had requested for a leave to attend his wife Ayesha Mukherjee, who is not keeping well. He has thus been released from the Indian squad for the said number of matches.
In a statement, BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said on Thursday, “Team India opener Mr Shikhar Dhawan has requested to be released from the team for the first three ODIs of the Paytm Australia tour of India, 2017 to attend to his wife, who is unwell.”
However, the BCCI has decided to not name a replacement for the left-hander.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has decided not to name any replacement for Mr Dhawan in Indian Cricket Team,” the statement further added.
Under such circumstances, Ajinkya Rahane might get a chance to open the innings alongside vice-captain Rohit Sharma.
Shikhar Dhawan had earlier missed the fifth ODI and the one-off T20I against Sri Lanka as he had to fly back to India to visit his mother who was unwell. He has been in good touch with the bat of late, scoring two hundreds in the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka and had also played a magnificent 132-run knock in the first ODI against the same opponents in Dambulla.
Chennai, Kolkata and Indore would host the first three ODI’s against Australia on the September 17, 21 and 24 respectively.
The Indian squad for the first three ODI’s against Australia-
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.