India tour to Sri Lanka: Shikhar Dhawan is up for the challenge as India flies to Sri Lanka.
India tour to Sri Lanka: Senior Indian southpaw Shikhar Dhawan said he is up for the challenge as he walks out in his maiden senior match as a captain in island nation Sri Lanka. The skipper is confident enough to pull off the things quite nicely in the upcoming tour.
India and Sri Lanka are scheduled to play in three ODIs and as many T20I games in the tour.
The visitors will have the services of Rahul Dravid as a head coach for the tour which marks the absence of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and coach Ravi Shastri. The senior Indian outfit is currently touring England for the upcoming five games Test Series against England, starting August 4.
The new skipper, Dhawan said that the two weeks quarantine time has helped the guys to get better bonding and are really jamming well.
“This is a very good team. There is positivity, confidence in our team and everybody is confident that we will do well. There is a lot of excitement,” Dhawan said at the virtual press conference in the presence of tour head coach Rahul Dravid.
He further stated that the games will bring new opportunities for the young guns to showcase their talent and come into the eyes.
“It is a new challenge but at the same time it is a great opportunity for all of us to show our talent. Everybody is waiting (for the tour to begin),” he added.
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Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who wasn’t picked for the England tour, will be Dhawan’s deputy for the tour of Sri Lanka.
The selectors named a 20 men squad for the tour which consists of as many as six uncapped cricketers.
The likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham, Chetan Sakariya and Varun Chakravarthy will look to leave a strong mark in their debut series.
The 35 years old skipper said that his main focus right now is to create a positive environment in the bubble and bring the best out of his players.
“It is a great honour for me to be the captain of the Indian team and looking forward to it. At the same time, as a team, we are working with Rahul ‘Bhaiya’ (Rahul Dravid).
I have played under his coaching once for India A, so I feel that we guys sync together, the support staff and the team and we are looking forward to this series,” he added.
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