Travelling as head coach with the Indian team for their limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, former skipper Rahul Dravid underlined the team’s goal from what will be India’s only three T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Dravid said given the short nature of the assignment and the 20-man young contingent they are travelling with, it will be difficult to give everyone an opportunity.
He stressed that the main aim is to win the series, while also throwing up options for one or two spots that the selectors may still be wanting more candidates to look at.
These are only three games before the World T20. I’m sure the selectors and the management would have a pretty fair idea by now as to what is kind of squad they are looking for. Before the T20 World Cup, there is the IPL. In that sense, this series gives may be an opportunity for maybe one or two places … give them a few more options.
Dravid said during an online press conference alongside stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
You can’t read too much into it as well. There might be that odd spot and people could raise their hands during these T20 games. We have a couple of selectors travelling with us.
He added.
Dravid added he will have conversations with the main team management – skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri – who are in UK right now for their Test assignment, to get a better grasp of their ideas and plans heading into the T20 World Cup so that those can be worked over during the Sri Lanka visit.
The NCA head, who has come in as coach for this trip, believes even though the playing opportunities are limited for some of the youngsters, they’ll still have the chance to share the Indian dressing room with experienced players like Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal, from whom they can learn a lot.
The three-match T20I series will be played in Colombo with matches scheduled on July 21, 23 and 25, respectively. The tour, of course, kicks off with the three ICC Super League ODIs on July 13, 16 and 18.
