"Let's paint the world blue, boys!"- Shikhar Dhawan pens emotional note to wish India the best for 2023 World Cup

Veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan is not a part of India's 2023 World Cup squad. However, this didn't stop him from wishing his teammates the best with the tournament set to begin on Thursday.

Dhawan is hopeful that Team India will bring the trophy home, and here's what he posted on X:

"Chak De India! 🇮🇳 Let's paint the world blue, boys! All the best on your World Cup journey. Bring that trophy home! 🏏🏆 #TeamIndia #WorldCup2023"

---

Shikhar Dhawan's record in ODI World Cups is sensational

In his prime, Shikhar Dhawan was known to be India's savior in ICC events. He hit the ground running by winning the Golden Bat for the most runs in ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

He played 10 ODI World Cup games across two editions, amassing a staggering 537 runs at an average of 53.7 with three centuries. He was ruled out for part of the 2019 World Cup after a thumb injury against Australia at The Oval. Having smashed a hundred in that very game, Dhawan's absence was arguably one of the biggest reasons why they didn't win the 2019 World Cup.

Shubman Gill's meteoric rise helped the youngster leapfrog the veteran opener. Ishan Kishan scoring a double hundred against Bangladesh last year proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Dhawan with respect to the 2023 World Cup.

While Gill is in sensational form with 1230 ODI runs and five ODI hundreds already this year, he has a huge task at hand to fill the big boots of Dhawan in ICC tournaments for India.

---

India's World Cup Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.