Veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has shared a heartfelt social media post after his omission from India’s 15-man squad for ICC World Cup 2023. Dhawan congratulated his fellow teammates who were chosen to represent India in the World Cup 2023 and expressed his support and prayers for the team, urging them to bring the cup back home and make the nation proud.

“Congratulations to my fellow teammates & friends chosen to represent India in the WC 2023 tournament! With the prayers and support of 1.5 billion people, you carry our hopes and dreams. May you bring the cup back home and make us proud! Go all out, Team India! #ChakDePhatte #WorldCup,” Dhawan tweeted.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the provisional 15-man squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 on Tuesday (5th October). Despite having a fantastic record in ICC events, Shikhar Dhawan, who hasn’t played an ODI since December last year, was overlooked by the selectors.

Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the team due to his poor performance in one-day internationals. In December 2022, he last played for the team against Bangladesh. Before being dropped, he averaged in the 20s and was thus replaced on the team by Shubman Gill. The youngster took his chances and earned a place in the playing XI.

This will, however, be Shikhar Dhawan’s first absence from an ICC 50-overs event in ten years. Dhawan has scored 537 runs in eight innings in two ICC One-Day International World Cups (2015 and 2019). In ODI World Cups, his average rises from 44.11 to 53.70. In these eight games, the Southpaw has three centuries and one fifty. In the ODI World Cup, Dhawan scores 50 or more every second inning, compared to his career average of 50 or more every three innings.

India’s squad for ODI World Cup 2023:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.