IND vs ENG: Pressure Builds On Shikhar Dhawan To Retain His Spot In India's T-20 Squad

Ishan Kishan's success as an opener may put pressure on Shikhar Dhawan to retain his place in the India team ahead of the T20 World Cup that is scheduled to be held in October-November this year i

"At the same time the next brigade is coming, and the bench strength is great. This is a healthy headache. Till recently, Sanju Samson was there. But now he is not. So with so many players coming and performing, you need to keep performing irrespective of the fact that you are a senior or junior," added Prasad.

"In such an atmosphere, the only way you can keep your place in the eleven is by performing." What goes against Dhawan is that he isn't as flexible as the others and is thus more vulnerable to the ax. Most of the batsmen like Rahul or Virat Kohli or even Rohit Sharma can bat in the middle-order.

Unlike them, Dhawan has always been an opener in white-ball formats and additionally, according to sources close to him, 'tasked with going after the bowling with Rohit playing the anchor's role'.

"All these questions arise when someone is not performing or is not matching up to expectations. If he was doing well, this question (of him being one-dimensional) wouldn't have arisen at all. There are many players in this team who play only as a batsman - Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, or Rohit Sharma," said Prasad.

The ex-chief selector, however, agreed that the others are more flexible.

"I agree, they are all a bit flexible as compared to Dhawan and can adapt to batting positions. KL, Virat has batted in the middle-order. I would still prefer KL in the middle," he added.

But with time running out, Dhawan may have to prove himself all over again at this year's IPL. Considering that this is India's last big international T20I series, an IPL as productive as the one in 2020 can keep him in contention.

"Kishan has shown he belongs to this league. The way he played last year's IPL and the knock yesterday. It is not easy to keep your place in the face of it. You have to keep performing. The countdown towards the T20 World Cup has begun and selectors will make up their mind," said Prasad.