Shikhar Dhawan Deserves Another Test, Says Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar reckons that having Shikhar Dhawan in the team would maintain the left hand-right hand combination which would work well for India as it put pressure on the opposition.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar backed an out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan and believes that the left-hander deserves another Test being dropped from the team. (India vs South Africa Mohali Test, Day 2: Ravichandran Ashwin Grabs Five Wickets to Give Hosts Advantage)
"It's a tough call (to drop him). But when you look at his Test record, in the previous two Test matches he has got two hundreds. While he struggled in the ODIs (against South Africa) and then got a half-century in the final game, maybe I think he deserves another Test," Gavaskar told NDTV. (Day 2 Report | Scorecard | Highlights)
Dhawan has made big centuries in his last two innings. His latest ton came during the first Test against Sri Lanka, where he scored 134 in Galle. He had also made a big hundred against Bangladesh, where he scored 173 in Fatullah.
"Another reason that if you leave Dhawan out of the squad, then you will have two right-handers at the crease. I have always believed that a left hand-right hand combination can cause problems. The time from break would have been after the third ODI, because it would have allowed him to go back in the nets and work on his game," Gavaskar added.
India who were shot out for 201 on Day 1, bundled out South Africa for 184, thereby securing a slender 17 runs lead on Day 2.
Ravichandran Ashwin led India's charge with the ball as he picked up his 13th five wicket haul, following which Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay further strengthened India's position to claim an overall lead of 142.
Gavaskar, however, not surprised that all ten South African wickets fell to spinners. (Five-Star Ravichandran Ashwin Reaches 150 Test Wickets, Joins Exclusive Club of Bowling Greats)
"On this surface that's exactly what the Indian team would have wanted. They have got the kind of pitch they wanted and so no surprise at all that the spinners have taken all the ten wickets," the 66-yaear-old said.
"My honest advice to the bowlers is to keep doing the same and pitch the ball little further up and you would get the South Africans out for less than what you them out in the first innings," he added.
The former Indian opener was of the view that hosts should target a lead of 300 if they have to put South Africans under pressure.
"I think ideally closer to 300 should be good enough. But the way the ball and the pitch is behaving anything closer to 200 should also be good enough. But closer to 300 would be difficult for the South Africans to chase," he signed off.