"That's hardly an excuse" - Aakash Chopra on thoughts of Shikhar Dhawan getting dropped from India's ODI squad vs South Africa

Aakash Chopra believes Shikhar Dhawan cannot be dropped from Team India's ODI squad for the South Africa series based on a few indifferent performances in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Dhawan has been a regular member of Team India's playing XI in ODIs despite losing his place in the T20I side. However, the southpaw's sub-par performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy have raised doubts about his inclusion in the Indian team for the South Africa tour.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was asked if Shikhar Dhawan should be selected for the South Africa ODIs based on his exceptional performances in international cricket. He replied:

"In my opinion, there should be no yardstick other than that. If you have kept someone in international cricket and he has performed well there and then if he plays four domestic matches and gets out, will you drop him? That's hardly an excuse."

The former India opener highlighted that international players will be discouraged from playing domestic cricket if Shikhar Dhawan is dropped after a few failures. Chopra observed:

"I mean you want to encourage people to go and play domestic cricket. If you drop someone after four failures because he didn't score runs in Vijay Hazare and we don't consider the runs you have scored for India because they were long back."

Dhawan has amassed 6105 runs at an excellent average of 45.55 in the 145 ODIs he has played for India. The 36-year-old averages 58.0 and 59.4 in the 50-over format in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

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"It is not Shikhar Dhawan's fault" - Aakash Chopra

Shikhar Dhawan captained Team India in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Shikhar Dhawan should not be dropped just because some youngsters have done exceedingly well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He elaborated:

"It is not his fault, he cannot fail in an exam in which he never appeared and if he has not failed in that exam, you cannot penalize him for that. In my opinion, the worst thing will be if you drop Shikhar Dhawan because some kids have done well in the Vijay Hazare and you have not played international cricket for a long time."

The 44-year-old concluded by stating that it would hurt him a lot if Shikhar Dhawan was sidelined. Chopra said:

"I know he is 36, I know you might want to look in some other direction in the future but it still needs a bit of an explanation. If you have thought about going somewhere else, let's have a conversation, communicate it to the world and do it in a dignified manner. I will feel extremely bad if he is dropped."

Dhawan managed just 56 runs at a dismal average of 11.20 in the five matches he played for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ruturaj Gaikwad, meanwhile, was in scintillating form and might have stolen a march on him.