‘You gave Rohit, Kohli and Rahul plenty of chances but…’ – Harbhajan Singh backs star India opener after his current performance in IPL 2023

Star India batters Shikhar Dhawan and Sanju Samson are performing exceedingly well in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Samson played important innings of 55 runs from 32 balls which included three fours and four sixes in his side’s opening fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), whereas, on the other hand, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper scored an unbeaten knock of 86 runs off 56 balls with nine fours and three sixes in his last encounter against  Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Dhawan overshadowed Samson’s explosive innings in the nail-biting last over at Guwahati by scoring his first 50 of the IPL 2023 to secure a historic victory for the Punjab side. Former  Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh has praised the batter and questioned the decision to leave veteran campaigner Dhawan out of Team India’s white-ball squad.

You can not treat him like this: Harbhajan Singh 

“Shikhar has also led the Indian side in many tours but suddenly we saw that after the role of Shikhar was over he was sidelined as if he is not needed anymore. I felt bad on seeing this because the treatment for everyone should be the same. He is a big player and has given too much to Indian cricket,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying on YouTube.

Last year, Dhawan led Team India on their parallel overseas tours. Dhawan was left out of the India team due to his streak of poor performances due to the quick rise of Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill. In January, the 37-year-old was benched for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Dhawan, meanwhile, is focused on strengthening his World Cup selection chances by performing well in the IPL season of 2023.

“You can not treat him like this. He played a good knock of 86 in 56 balls. I will not name anyone here. For instance, let’s take Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli, or KL Rahul who are big names. You gave them plenty of chances but on the other hand, there is no place for Shikhar Dhawan in the team now. He has always contributed for the team. Then why he is not getting a chance in the Indian team? Talking about fitness, he is as fit as Virat Kohli,” from Mumbai Indians player asserted.