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Dhawan ruled out of T20I series vs due to shoulder injury

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 1/22/2020 11:08:01 AM

New Delhi, Jan 21 Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the upcoming five T20Is against New Zealand because of the left shoulder injury he picked up during the 3rd ODI vs Australia in Bengaluru on Sunday. Dhawan's absence from the Indian squad that left for New Zealand on Monday, was suggestive of the fact that he might not be available for the T20I series. Dhawan did not come out to open India innings after he injured his left shoulder in the series-deciding third ODI between India and Australia. The lefthanded batsman was taken for scans for his injury as KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma opened for India. Dhawan dived to save an Aaron Finch shot in the cover region and ended up hurting his left shoulder in the fifth over. Dhawan walked off the field after getting hurt and was later taken for an X-Ray. The 34-year-old was already in pain before coming into the series decider as he was hit on the rib cage by a Pat Cummins bouncer while batting in the 2nd ODI against Australia on Friday as he did not take the field during the entire Australia innings. Dhawan was hit in the 10th over of the Indian innings. While he was in considerable pain and needed medical attention, he decided to carry on batting, scoring a fluent 96 in India's total of 340 for six. Ironically, it was against Australia in the World Cup that Dhawan had sustained a fractured thumb after being hit by a rising delivery from Nathan Coulter-Nile. Meanwhile Indian skipper Virat Kohli stressed upon putting New Zealand under pressure early on while focusing on "clarity of mind". "We want to bat well when we bat first and in case we're defending a low total, we should be able to do that as well. Clarity of mind is really crucial because we're playing in conditions that are not ours, so we have to take even more intensity into that series to put the home team under pressure, set that sort of template from game one and build from there," said Kohli after the last ODI vs Australia in Bengaluru. "We can't afford to ease into the series after two games, because then it keeps getting tougher and tougher, so we'll look to make a mark in the first game that we play, play expressive cricket and be sure of what we want to do," added Kohli. New Zealand, on the other hand, have had a horrid Australia tour and are aiming to get back to winning ways under home comfort. Veteran Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor didn't miss out on the importance of the 5-T20I series in the year of the T20 World Cup. "Probably right from the Sri Lanka series and England, the focus has been on the World Cup. It will be different conditions in Australia but getting those combinations, trying a few different guys out, obviously a few injuries as well which changes the dynamic of the side, but tests the depth out and gives guys opportunities which bodes well for competition for spots," said Ross Taylor recently.