'Would have selected Shubman Gill over myself' - Shikhar Dhawan

Senior Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has stated that he would love to pick Shubman Gill over himself for Team India had he been a selector, considering the young opener's contemporary form. Gill has been terrific with the bat across formats of late, as he has nearly secured his place in the Indian XI for the ICC World Cup in India later this year, while Dhawan remains out of favour, given his unstable form.

Gill has scored hundreds across formats this year, including a One-Day International (ODI) 200 versus New Zealand and a ton versus Australia in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, which ended in a draw. Dhawan, who has played 167 ODIs, would still be fighting for his place in the Indian XI for the CWC.

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"I feel the way Shubman is [playing]. Like he was playing two formats and performing well in Tests and T20s, he played more matches in the international circuit, and I wasn't. If I were the selector, I would give the chance to Shubman. Would have selected Shubman over me," Dhawan described to Indian media house Aaj Tak, reports PTI.

Dhawan added that skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid had backed him and asked him to focus on the CWC. However, Gill's ascendency and his dip in form have seen him getting out of favour. "When Rohit took over the captaincy, he and Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup," he revealed.

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"2022 was very good for me. I was consistent in ODIs. But there is this young guy who has been doing well in two formats, and when my form dipped in a series or two, they gave a chance to Shubman, and he has lived up to their expectation. We are used to such situations. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, then, for a moment, I thought I could be out of the team," added Dhawan.

Speaking on his axe, Dhawan recorded, "This is not something new in cricket. Or this happened just to me. Plenty of others have met with the same fate. Sometimes, you play well throughout the year, and then your form drops for one month or two. Sometimes, that becomes bigger than your performance throughout the year. When a captain, coach and selector decide, they put plenty of thoughts into it," concluded Dhawan.