Still, the former India opener supported his nation’s well-rounded team to win the eight-nation Champions Trophy.
Former opener Shikhar Dhawan believes that although India would feel Jasprit Bumrah’s absence “very strongly” at the Champions Trophy, the team still has a fantastic chance to win the event given its current form and abundance of match-winners at its disposal.
While Pakistan’s tournament begins on Wednesday, India’s campaign begins the next day at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium with a match versus neighbor Bangladesh.
Pace leader Bumrah, who took the most strain during India’s five-match Test series against Australia, was unable to participate in the event because of a lower back ailment.In an ICC essay that was published on Tuesday, Dhawan stated, “I am worried that they will miss Jasprit Bumrah. He will definitely be a big absence, and I think they will feel it very strongly.” He is the greatest bowler in the world, in my opinion, and it is difficult to match his precision. Additionally, he is a very composed individual, which is essential at a major ICC event like this one.
However, Dhawan believes that Harshit Rana and Shubman Gill would excel in the competition. Simultaneously, Harshit has entered the team, which I find to be quite interesting. Watch him closely because I believe he may have a breakthrough event.As the conversation shifted to potential champions, Dhawan found it difficult to go past India given their previous performance and squad strength. “India has a lot of reasons to be positive. They have a well-rounded team, particularly at bat, where youth and experience are nicely balanced. Specifically, Shubman Gill is incredibly reliable and plays a significant contribution. I believe his event will be fantastic.
“Virat Kohli is there, Rohit Sharma has found form, and they are a top team that will require some stopping.” Dhawan is also not ruling out South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and host Pakistan, to whom India lost the title match in the last edition in the United Kingdom.
“I like South Africa in this tournament as well. They have performed consistently and have everything required to win such a large tournament, including experience, depth, and X-factor players such as Kagiso Rabada. I also like Pakistan, they will be hard to beat in home conditions, and also New Zealand – who are just always there or there abouts.
“Australia have struggled in their series with Sri Lanka but they have some great batters; Travis Head is in great form, and I’m really excited to see Steve Smith.”One of the most successful batters in the history of the competition, Dhawan amassed 701 runs at an average of 77.88 in 10 innings. In the competition, he scored three hundreds, with his highest score being 125 against Sri Lanka in 2017.
“I find the ICC Champions Trophy to be very significant. I finished as the top run scorer both times we advanced to the final in 2017 and won in 2013, he continued.
