“Shikhar Dhawan please just retire” – Fans react after India opener’s flop show against Bangladesh in second ODI

Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan once again failed to deliver in a must-win second ODI against Bangladesh on Wednesday, December 7.

The southpaw was caught by Mehidy Hasan off an unplayable bouncer from Mustafizur Rahman in the third over. He departed for eight off 10 balls, leaving India in a spot of bother at 13/2 in 2.5 overs.

Rohit Sharma didn’t come out to open the innings after a finger injury. The visitors were 39/3 after 10 overs.

It's worth mentioning that Dhawan also departed for another single-digit score of seven runs in the first ODI against Bangladesh, which India lost by one wicket.

The 37-year-old also failed to put on a show in the last two ODIs (28 and three runs) in New Zealand (barring 72 in the opening contest). It came after a forgetful series against the Proteas at home, where he scored just 25 runs from three innings.

Fans on Twitter expressed their disgust at witnessing another failure from Dhawan. A section of fans even asked the opener to retire ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

Here are some of the best reactions:

Dhawan, however, had tremendous outings in the ODI series in West Indies (168) and Zimbabwe (154) earlier this year. He emerged as India’s second-highest run-scorer on both tours after opener Shubman Gill.

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Shikhar Dhawan yet to score a century since 2019

Shikhar Dhawan has not scored an ODI century for Team India in the last 35 ODI matches. He hit his last ODI century against Australia in June 2019. The left-hander, though, has scored 12 fifties during that period.

So far, he has amassed 677 runs in 20 matches this year at an average of 37.61.

With in-form Gill waiting in the wings ahead of the 2023 World Cup, Dhawan will look to score big in the upcoming third ODI to stay in the reckoning of the new Selection Committee for future ODIs.

Shikhar Dhawan in 2022 – 677 in 20 ODIs @37.61

Shubman Gill in 2022 – 638 runs in 12 ODIs @70.89