Happy to get the youngsters in the team and see their dreams come true - Shikhar Dhawan

Ahead of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, India stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma wants his side to remain together and have a good frame of mind ahead of their test against Sri Lanka.

With several of the top-notch players in England preparing for the Test series, the new-look Indian side is all set to lock horns against Sri Lanka in six limited-overs matches (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is). The series kicks off in Colombo from 18th July.

"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," Dhawan said on the Star Sports show 'Follow the Blues'.

"We have got a lovely bunch of boys, great support staff, and we have worked earlier as well,” he added. One of the most prolific openers in world cricket, Dhawan shares a good camaraderie with Rahul Dravid who has been assigned as the head coach for the series."

"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," Dhawan added.

Quite a few uncapped players have been picked in the squad. However, Rahul Dravid has made clear that only one or two spots is up for grabs and it won’t be possible to give a break to all the players present in the squad. Irrespective of the opportunities they get, Dhawan wants all of them to enjoy themselves and their journey to the national team.

"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 said.

Dhawan feels that a perfect blend of youth and experience will benefit not only the juniors but also the senior members in the team.

"There are seniors in the team, so the youngsters will learn from them, and 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," Dhawan concluded.

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