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Sunil Gavaskar explains what Shubman Gill needs to do to replace Shikhar Dhawan


image-lbac6l99Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill [Source: Twitter]

On Sunday, India were handed a narrow one-wicket defeat by Bangladesh in the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series. Batting first, India managed only 186 on the board, which the hosts chased successfully, courtesy of a memorable knock from Mehidy Hasan Miraz. 

Besides scoring 38 runs, Mehidy was also handy with the ball, dismissing Shikhar Dhawan in the sixth over. Dhawan's yet another failure raged the Indian fans and experts, who called for his axing, replacing him with Shubman Gill, immediately after the game concluded. 

However, legendary former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar believes that excluding Shikhar Dhawan from the scheme of things isn't easy for India, as the talismanic batter ensures a left-right combination at the top. 

Having said that, Gavaskar advised Gill to convert his starts to daddy hundreds to earn the management's trust as Dhawan's first-choice replacement. 


Here's what Gavaskar stated

"You are always looking for a left-right combination. Shikhar brings that left-handedness plus the loads of experience that he has got, 

"This means that someone like Shubman Gill will have to scored hundreds and hundreds. Not the 50s and 60s that he is getting. Yes sometimes I understand that you are kind of trying to up the scoring rate but he has got to convert those 50s and 60s into impact hundreds and 120."

Gill, unlike Dhawan, has been incredibly consistent in 2022, amassing 638 runs at a superb average of 70.89 and a strike rate of 102.57. 

However, he missed the flight to Bangladesh, with India captain Rohit Sharma returning to the team. But with Dhawan blowing hot and cold, the Punjab batter could make it into India's first-choice ODI XI anytime in the near future. 


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