‘Gabbar ki baddua lagegi tumhe’ – Fans slam Ajit Agarkar as he reveals that Shikhar Dhawan is not in contention for India’s opening slot in any format

It seems that India’s veteran left-handed batter Shikhar Dhawan’s hopes to make a comeback in the national team are almost ended as he wasn’t included in India’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. The Indian Cricket Board announced a 17-member squad for the Asia Cup and Dhawan failed to make it to the squad.

Interestingly, Dhawan won’t be there in the Asian Games 2023 as well. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be seen leading the side. Meanwhile, Indian chief selector and former India pacer Ajit Agarkar talked about Dhawan in a press conference and said that he is a terrific player but currently the team’s preferred openers are only Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan.

“At the moment, we have just spoken about three openers. Rohit is not a bad player. Shubman’s had a phenomenal year and a half. Ishan Kishan is in. Shikhar has been a terrific player for India. We know what he has done. Since December, I don’t think [he has played]. At the moment, there are three guys who are doing really well. You can only fit 15 in a team. Unfortunately, sometimes somebody has to miss out,” Agar was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

World Cup squad will be in and around those guys: Ajit Agarkar

The upcoming Asia Cup will also help the Indian team to try all their experiments before the ODI World Cup. Agarkar also gave a hint that current India’s ODI squad will be almost the same for the ODI World Cup as well. So it is clear, Dhawan will also miss the World Cup as well.

“We’ve picked these 18 guys, so it [World Cup squad] will be in and around those guys. Few important guys who are coming back from injuries. Hopefully, all goes well for them. They’ll get a few games in the Asia Cup. It will be close between these guys, but fortunately, we have some more time. September 5 is the deadline. It’s around these guys; it’s quite obvious.” he added.

Here’s how fans reacted: