"I don't see his name popping up" - Sunil Gavaskar reckons Shikhar Dhawan is out of race to make India's T20 World Cup squad

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan might no longer be in contention for a place in India's T20 World Cup squad.

The 72-year-old feels the southpaw's faith was sealed when his name didn't even feature in the Indian squad that would tour Ireland.

Dhawan was India's captain when they sent a highly inexperienced side to Sri Lanka last year. However, his performances in the T20Is were ordinary. With Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad in the mix, Gavaskar feels Dhawan is way down the pecking order for the third or fourth opener spot in the squad.

Speaking to Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar explained why Shikhar Dhawan might no longer be on the selectors' radar for the shortest format. He said:

"No. I don't see his name popping up. If it had to pop up, it would have been in this squad (to play Ireland). A lot of guys have gone to England and he could have been in this squad. If he is not in this squad, I don't see him ending in the mix (for T20 World Cup)."

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Sunil Gavaskar names his openers for India at the T20 World Cup

Although Ishan Kishan had a great series against South Africa, Sunil Gavaskar opined that Rohit Sharma should open with KL Rahul for the T20 World Cup. The duo did face some issues against left-arm swing in the previous edition last year. But Gavaskar still feels this is the best opening combination for India.

He stated:

"My opening combination would have KL Rahul, if he's fit, and Rohit Sharma alongside him."

India will play two T20Is against Ireland on June 26 and June 28. They will be led by Hardik Pandya, with most of the players from the squad for the series against South Africa retaining their spots.

India's T20I squad vs Ireland: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.