"Shikhar Dhawan deserved a place too" - Suresh Raina opens up after Shikhar Dhawan dropped ahead of the T20I series against South Africa

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the 18-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa on Sunday. The five-match T20I series against the Proteas will be commencing on 9th June, Thursday.

The big boys Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah have rested ahead of their upcoming tour to England. With these have been rested, the Kartanaka batter KL Rahul has been named as the skipper with Rishabh Pant as his deputy.

Moreover, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik who have done well in this edition of the Indian Premier League have been added to the squad as well.

Another good news for the cricket fans is that the Baroda all-rounder Hardik Pandya who was out of action for a quite long time after the T20 World Cup 2021 has also backed after his back to back performance in the ongoing season. 

Every captain wants a player like him: Suresh Raina

Recently, the former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has opened up about the exclusion of Shikhar Dhawan in the 18-member squad announced by the BCCI. Suresh Raina claims that every captain would always look to have a player like Shikhar Dhawan in his team.

Moreover, he also questioned the selectors as they brought back Dinesh Karthik who is in splendid form this season. In that case, the left-handed batter also wanted Shikhar Dhawan to be named in this five-match T20I series.

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"Obviously, Shikhar would have been disappointed. Every captain wants a player like him in the team. He is a fun-loving person who brightens up the environment. And he has always scored runs – be it domestic, international, or T20," Suresh Raina was quoted as saying in a show on Star Sports. 

"If you’ve brought Dinesh Karthik back into the team, Shikhar Dhawan deserved a place too. He has performed runs for the last 3-4 years and has scored runs non-stop. Somewhere deep down, he must be sad," he added.