On Thursday, veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was handed over the responsibility to lead the 20-man squad for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka starting July 13. The ‘Men in Blue’ will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and as many T20 Internationals (T20Is) in the limited-overs battle against the Islanders.
After being given the role to lead Team India, Dhawan has shared his reaction, stating that he is humbled to receive the opportunity to lead the Indian national cricket team.
Taking to Twitter, Dhawan shared his photo and wrote: “Humbled by the opportunity to lead my country (Flag of India). Thank you for all your wishes.”
Humbled by the opportunity to lead my country 🇮🇳 Thank you for all your wishes 🙏 pic.twitter.com/SbywALBTwZ
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) June 11, 2021
Dhawan has played 142 ODIs and 65 T20Is in his glorious international career, amassing 5977 and 1673 runs, respectively. The left-handed batter has smashed 17 hundreds and 32 half-centuries in the 50-over format. He is the fifth Indian to score that many tons in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar (49), Virat Kohli (43), Rohit Sharma (29) and Sourav Ganguly (22).
When it comes to the shortest format, Dhawan has managed to hit 11 half-centuries, with 92 being his best score. He is the third-highest run-getter for India in T20Is after Kohli (3159) and Rohit (2864).
Coming back to the team, the selectors picked up some fresh faces for the Sri Lanka tour as the main side is in the United Kingdom (UK) preparing for the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand and a five-match Test series against England.
Some of the fresh faces selected in the outfit are Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Chetan Sakariya. Apart from them, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh have been picked as net bowlers.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee picked the Indian squad for the 3-match ODI series and the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka scheduled in the month of July. All matches will be played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo,” BCCI said in a statement.
