Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill
Reflexes
- India beat Zimbabwe in the second ODI
- In the second ODI, Dhawan-Gill did not open the innings.
- Captain KL Rahul opens with Dhawan
IND vs. ZIM: In the second match against Zimbabwe, the superhit starting pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill broke up. The pair broke up because KL captain Rahul needed batting practice for the Asian Cup in an international match. In the last match of the series, India earned a 10-wicket win against Zimbabwe. The starting pair of Dhawan and Gill stayed in the crease until the win, so Rahul didn’t get a chance to bat. In the second match, the caretaker captain carved out a place for himself by taking down Gill from the start and returned to the pavilion after scoring just one run.
Dhawan-Gill superhit pair broken for personal gain!
Cricket is a team game and your only goal is to get a big win. All the players, including the captain, sweated for this goal, but in the second match at Harare Sports Club, this goal may have drifted a bit. The initial pairing in Dhawan-Gill form was probably broken up for Captain Rahul’s personal gain. In the postgame presentation, when Rahul was asked about the reason for the change in the batting lineup, he said: “I came to this series to practice batting, but it wasn’t possible in the last game. Before the next tournament. It’s important for me to hit.”
These two batsmen had partnerships of three centuries in the last four innings as the opening pair. Dhawan and Gill shared a 119-run partnership in the opening match of the recent ODI series against the West Indies. In the second ODI of the same series, they shared a 48-run partnership and in the third match, the duo added 113 runs together. In the opener of the ongoing series against Zimbabwe, the two shared an undefeated partnership of 192 runs. This was the 11th highest partnership by an Indian opening pair in ODI cricket history.
- 119 – 1st ODI v West Indies
- 48 – 2nd ODI v West Indies
- 113 – 3rd ODI v West Indies
- 192* – 1st ODI v Zimbabwe
The side effect of breaking the Dhawan-Gill opening partnership was visible
These are staggering figures. Despite this, it will be a problem fielding Lokesh Rahul as a starter in this match for the Asian Cup dress rehearsal. The secondary effect of this change was also seen immediately. Rahul came into the opener with Shikhar and there was an initial partnership of just five runs between them. At the same time, Gill and Dhawan, who shined in recent matches, also looked a little pale. Both scored 33-33 runs.