India will take on South Africa under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan in three-match ODI series starting from today (October 6) in Lucknow. Ahead of the series, Dhawan said that it will be an opportunity for all the stand-by players for the T20 World Cup to make a case for themselves for the main squad.
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“Of course, it is very important because the more matches they (standby players) are going to play, they will be in better groove and better mindset. If the boys perform well, then obviously the confidence will help them. Who knows they might get a chance so they can look at this series as preparation," Dhawan said on the eve of the first game.
Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Chahar are the standbys named for the Indian team for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia and will be travelling down under as reserves.
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Indian ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has already been ruled out with an injury and therefore the series could be a platform to pick between Deepak Chahar, who is in the stand-by list and Mohammed Siraj, who could make that list incase Shami fails to pass fitness test before October 15.
In the ODIs against Proteas, a few uncapped players will also be seen in action like Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Mukesh Kumar and Shahbaz Ahmed. On the same, Dhawan feels that the series will be an opportunity for the youngsters to get the exposure and will help them to grow.
“If you look at the performance of our youngsters, the transition that happened that shows their confidence."
Dhawan further mentioned that South African side is really good and competitive. Though India defeated them 2-1 in the preceding T20I series but there will be a tough fight to clinch the ODI trophy.
“South Africa has a good team. Winning and losing are part of the game but it is important to learn from defeats," he said.
“Both the teams made plenty of runs in the T20 series. It depends on pitch, dew factor and plenty of other factors."
The stand-in skipper also reflected on selectors’ decision to experiment with captaincy off late. He said,
“Whenever experiment happened that time the senior players were not there. They were given rest, need to manage their load otherwise there are chances of injuries. Whoever is made the captain he is the most senior-most player and capable for the job."
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