IND vs WI: Shikhar Dhawan ruled out due to knee injury, Sanju Samson named replacement

As India get all set to host West Indies for the T20I series, opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan is reported to be ruled out owing to a knee injury.

The cricketer is said to have suffered the injury during the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20 in the clash versus Maharastra. 

A final call regarding his availability will be taken soon. However, according to Hindu, Dhawan will be replaced by Sanju Samson.

Samson’s exclusion from the initial squad had raised several questions and Thiruvananthpuram MP, Shashi Tharoor had tweeted about it. The politician was also supported by Harbhajan Singh. 

I guess they r testing his heart #selectionpanelneedtobechanged need strong people there.. hope dada @SGanguly99 will do the needful https://t.co/RJiGVqp7nk

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) November 25, 2019

“See I have certain roles in the T20I side. Have been practising hard in trying to perform that. Hopefully, by the time T20 world cup comes, everything falls into place,” he had told Hindustan Times last month. 

“I don’t think there are issues in T20Is. If you observe, I have been scoring well in the last few matches against South Africa and Bangladesh. Yes, I was a bit slow in the Delhi T20I. But that’s because I tried to bat differently because of the pitch. I know, 50 off 43 balls would have been a lot better than the 40 odd I got but yeah, I learnt.”

With just about 20-odd games to go before the T20 World Cup next year, Dhawan said that the team build-up is in process and India have every chance of bringing the cup home. 

“We’ve got one year. Whatever we have to plan we are planning it now and then only we can reach the final combination. I’m confident that this time we’ll come back with the cup.”