'Rahul Dravid had to make the tough call'- Reason for Shikhar Dhawan's omission from India squad revealed!

India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa was recently announced. While a few players are set to make a comeback to the Indian team, Shikhar Dhawan could not find a place in the squad. His omission from the Indian team came as a surprise to many.

The reason for his exclusion from the team has finally been revealed by a BCCI insider. According to the source, he had to be dropped to create room for younger players. The source also mentioned that Rahul Dravid, India's head coach, made the call to drop him from the team.

"Shikhar has been a great servant of Indian cricket for over a decade. But in T20s, you have to give chances to youngsters who have been doing well. Rahul had to make the tough call and we all agreed. Shikhar was informed by Rahul before the team was announced on Sunday," a senior BCCI source told Inside Sport.

In the meantime, Shikhar Dhawan was a consistent performer for the Punjab team in the Indian T20 League 2022. In 14 appearances this season, he scored 460 runs at an average of 38.33. His strike rate of 122.67, however, was not the best. Notably, Dhawan last played a T20 game against Sri Lanka last year. He was also dropped for the T20 World Cup 2021.

In India's squad for the series against South Africa, a few players such as Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav made a comeback to the side. In addition, a few players have also earned their maiden international call-up after a good season in the Indian T20 League 2022. Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh are included in the squad. The T20I series begins on the 9th of June.

India’s squad for South Africa series

KL Rahul (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(VC) (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik