India vs England: Sunil Gavaskar blasts decision to drop Shikhar Dhawan for Lord’s Test

Shikhar Dhawan’s axing from India’s playing XI for the second Test against England at Lord’s came as little surprise considering his poor display in the first Test at Edgbaston.

However, the southpaw’s exclusion baffled Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, who questioned why Murali Vijay was not dropped despite scoring less runs in both innings than Dhawan.

“I don’t agree with this decision (to drop Shikhar Dhawan). Shikhar Dhawan is always being made the scapegoat. In the last match, he scored more runs than Murali Vijay,” Gavaskar said on Sony’s broadcast.

“It is not right to drop him after every match. If you have to drop him after every match, why do you take him on tour?”

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Gavaskar’s backing of Dhawan comes as something of a surprise, given how critical he was of the opener’s technique during the first Test.

“Shikhar simply does not want to change his game. He believes in playing in the same manner which has brought him success till now,” Gavaskar had earlier said to Aaj Tak.

“You can still get away with such shots in one-day cricket because there aren’t many slips and the push or the edge goes for a boundary through the slip cordon.

“But in Tests, such shots will only result in a fall of wicket. Till a player makes a mental adjustment, he will continue to struggle against the red ball in overseas condition,” he added.

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Dhawan was replaced in the playing XI by Cheteshwar Pujara, who could only score one run despite looking solid during his time in the middle.

Pujara was involved in a horrible mix-up with skipper Virat Kohli that saw him run-out just when India needed a steady partnership after the loss of two early wickets.

India were eventually bundled out for 107 at the end of Day 2, with James Anderson taking five wickets to put the hosts in a commanding position.

First Published: Aug 11, 2018 11:34 IST