IPL 2020: 3 senior players who changed roles to fit their team’s needs

#2. Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi Capitals)

Shikhar Dhawan (Image credit: delhicapitals.in)

While Shikhar Dhawan was the No. 1 choice to open the batting for India in limited-overs cricket not long ago, good performances from the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Prithvi Shaw have pushed the left-hander out of contention.

Dhawan has been a consistent performer in the IPL, scoring more than 400 runs since the 2016 season. He formed a great opening combination with David Warner for SRH, but they decided to move and release him before IPL 2019. He was picked up by his home state of Delhi, and finished with 521 runs that helped them to finish third in the league.

It is evident from the strike rates he has had in the last few seasons with SRH and DC that the southpaw was keen to play the sheet anchor role even in T20s. This year too, Dhawan started similarly by playing a supporting role to the more aggressive Prithvi Shaw. Once Shaw started failing, Dhawan started pushing hard in the powerplay, and has been very successful so far.

He finished the league stage with 525 runs from 14 matches at a good average of 47.72. Dhawan’s strike rate has hovered around 130 for a few seasons, but has reached a very impressive 145 in this year’s IPL, which has been one of the reasons for DC finishing second on the points table.

With an impressive return of two centuries and two fifties, Shikhar Dhawan has been recalled in the Indian T20I team to tour Australia for a 3-match series.