With Murali Vijay gone, is it time to drop Shikhar Dhawan as well?

Anybody who has followed Indian team's performances abroad will tell you something is terribly wrong with India's top order. Either, they are not good enough or they are not able to make mental and physical adjustments required to play on seaming and bouncy pitches.

If we take a look at the batting line up during the last 4 years, the core of the Indian batting remains the same. Dhawan, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane and Kohli have been our top 5 in most of the Test matches played abroad during last 4 years which include series in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.

Kohli has been outstanding lately and Rahane has pitched in a few match-winning performances. Pujara has struggled. Vijay's performances have gone down the hill and he has been ousted from the team deservingly.

But, the question is: what about Dhawan? He has not performed any better than Vijay and what about his technique, which leaves a lot to be desired on seaming and swinging wickets.

Let's see what numbers (before the start of India-England series) say about Dhawan and Vijay's performances in testing conditions.

In Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, Vijay has scored 1210 runs at an average of 35.5 with 2 centuries and 7 fifties. In these four countries, Dhawan has scored 612 runs at an average of 27.8 with 1 century and 2 fifties.

Shikhar Dhawan: knicking one to slip

Looking at these numbers it is quite clear that Vijay has performed better than Dhawan in testing conditions.

Even if we look at the current form, Dhawan has not done anything sensational which could inspire confidence. Plus, his technique is not suitable to play in swinging and bouncy conditions as he plays loosely outside the off stump with no improvement whatsoever during all these years.

The only thing that goes in his favour is that he is a left-hander, which should not be enough to spare him the axe. Letting Vijay go was the right decision. Perhaps, it's time to look beyond Dhawan as well.