India’s stand-in-skipper Shikhar Dhawan has revealed that he would try to unite and keep everyone happy in the team in the series against Sri Lanka. He also added that it’s a big thing for him to captain the country and also stated that there’s a lot to learn from the youngsters and vice-versa.
One of India’s finest ODI openers of all time, Shikhar Dhawan will captain the country for the first time in the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. In the absence of several first-choice limited-overs players, owing to their involvement on the tour of England, India had to pick a second-string unit, and the side only has Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya as experienced campaigners. Dhawan will also turn the oldest Indian to captain the side in an ODI game when India locks horns with Sri Lanka on July 18 in Colombo. Notably, he captained the Hyderabad-based franchise in the IPL, for a short while, a few years back.
Reflecting on his captaincy mantra, the 35-years-old stated that he would want to make everyone happy and also admitted that it’s a huge honour to lead the country.
“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,” Dhawan said on Star Sports’ show ‘Follow the Blues’, reported HT.
Not only Dhawan, but the series will also see Rahul Dravid’s first international assignment as the head coach with India’s senior men side. The southpaw added that he has worked with Dravid earlier as well and they share a good bond.
“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,” Dhawan said.
The series will see a plethora of youngsters featuring for India. Taking about that, Dhawan asserted that it will be great to see many youngsters realizing their Indian dreams.
“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.
He also emphasized that the seniors and juniors should learn from each other and remarked that there is a lot to learn from today’s youngsters in terms of their mental approach.
“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,” Dhawan added.
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