Indian skipper on their tour to Sri Lanka, Shikhar Dhawan, didn’t throw open his cards till the very last dice is rolled as he refused to disclose the playing XI for the first ODI between the hosts and the visitors at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, July 18.
"We haven't really discussed who gets how many games," Dhawan said in a pre-match virtual press conference in Colombo. "The first goal is to win the series and we will play the best XI to win. We will pick whoever we feel can do well [on a given day]. it's not like we have to play everyone just because we have brought them here. That is not the thought process,” the skipper added.
The main curiosity for tomorrow’s Indian lineup is about the opening slot and the 34-year-old skipper too agreed that there is a lot of competition for the opening spot in the Indian team. In fact, to bat along with Dhawan, Devdutt Padikkal, Prithvi Shaw and Ruturaj Gaikwad, all of whom did exceedingly well in the recently IPL would be vying for one place.
"There is competition for the opening slot and it's a very good thing. Whoever plays, the goal is to do well as a team. Along the way, if we also do well, then these things [selection] take care of themselves,” said Dhawan.
The Delhi born didn’t shy away from saying that he is open to trying who so ever the team management wants to with respect to their T20 World Cup campaign strategy.
"As of now, I haven't had any specific chat with Virat or Ravi bhai (Ravi Shastri, India Head Coach), I'm sure they may have spoken to Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid, India’s interim coach for Sri Lanka tour), or the selectors and that message will be conveyed to us,” Dhawan said about the demands to play any special player.
“Whoever it is, the focus is on the T20 World Cup. If selectors or team management come to a mutual understanding that we need to play someone specifically, this is a great platform to have a look at them," he added.
Although Dhawan said that the team has a bunch of spinners and that they are all very fine in terms of skills, but he clearly mentioned that Yuzvendara Xghahal and Kuldeep Yadav would be the team’s first priority.
"They both share great chemistry and have won so many matches and series for us," Dhawan said about the spin duo.