India Tour of Sri Lanka: Shikhar Dhawan’s message to new faces in Team India, ‘Enjoy the journey and improve your strength’: Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan expressed his thoughts on being given the leadership role of the team during the white-ball series tour of Sri Lanka as he said he wants to keep everyone together and happy.
The tour comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is will start from July 18 after the series was rescheduled last week. The three ODIs will be played on July 18, 20, and 23. While the three T20Is will go ahead on July 25, 27, and 29. “It is a big achievement for me that I have become the captain of the Indian side. As a leader, my idea is to keep everyone together and happy – that is the most important thing. We have got a lovely bunch of boys, great support staff, and we have worked earlier as well. When I was the captain of India A, Rahul Dravid was the coach, and I have been to NCA many times, so there is a good bond.
I am sure we will have great energy, and it will be seen when we play,” said Dhawan on the Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named vice-captain, Dhawan will lead the team which will be coached by former skipper Rahul Dravid.
Talking about his bond with coach Rahul Dravid Dhawan said: “I have a good relation with Rahul Bhai. When I started playing Ranji Trophy, I played against him, and I have known him since then. When I went to play India A match, I was the Captain, and he was the coach, so there was interaction. When he became the Director of NCA, we used to go there for around 20 days, so we had a lot of interaction, and now we have good chemistry. And now that we have the chance to play six matches together, so it will be great fun, and I think we all sync nicely.”
Considering this tour is very important for youngsters to mark their stamp in the team, Dhawan pointed: “Happy to get the youngsters in the team and see their dreams come true. It’s a big thing that these youngsters have come from their respective hometowns with certain dreams, and their dreams are getting fulfilled.
“And now, they should enjoy the journey which landed them in Team India, and they should know the value of their strength and how to improve it. There are seniors in the team, so the youngsters will learn from them, and vice versa, we will get to learn from the youngsters. Whenever I meet the youngsters they often have new ways of thinking, and I try to learn things which will help us, and it is both way learning,” the 35-year-old added.
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