Bengaluru, September 14: Opener Shikhar Dhawan has requested to be released from the team for the first three ODIs of the Australia tour of India, 2017 to attend to his wife, who is unwell.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has decided not to name any replacement for Dhawan for the aforementioned matches.
The first three matches will be held at - Chennai (September 17), Kolkata (September 21) and Indore (September 24).
Interesting to see how India go in the absence of Dhawan. Rahane as the designated 3rd opener? Or go to Rahul with Pandey a long term no 4?
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 14, 2017
Dhawan also did not play the last ODI and the one off T20 against Sri Lanka in the recently concluded tour, attending to his mother who was ill.
Rahul at the top is a better bet than at no 4. Maybe busier than Rahane. But then Rahane was picked as 3rd opener,was MOS in the West Indies
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 14, 2017
Later Dhawan tweeted a photo with his mother who he said was recovering well.
Mom is recovering... Her health is much better than before. Thank you every1 fr your support 🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/SasYjC8ftB
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) September 4, 2017
The left-handed opener was a star performer for India in the Test series against Sri Lanka, notching up two centuries to top the run-getters' chart.
Drafted into the side only because of an injury to regular opener M Vijay, the Delhiite made the opportunity count with an impeccable performance with the bat during the series.
In the one-day series also he continued to torment Sri Lanka hammering a 71-ball hundred. This hundred was the third hundred for Dhawan in the series, and also his fastest hundred in one-day internationals.