India white-ball pacer Deepak Chahar has thrown his weight behind senior India batsman Shikhar Dhawan captaining the Indian team on its upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in July.
India will play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is on the tour with most of their first-choice players touring England for the World Test Championship final and the five-Test series against England.
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Deepak Chahar, who has the world record of the best bowling figures in T20I cricket and is the first and only Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in T20Is, said that Shikhar Dhawan will be the better choice of captaining India. Apart from Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya are being looked at as options to lead India on this short tour.
"Shikhar bhai will be a good choice (for captain). He has been playing for a long time and has a lot of experience. For me, a senior person should become a captain. Because players see that player as a senior and respect him and obey him with honesty. Players should respect their captain. He (Dhawan) will be a good choice," Chahar told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.
As far as his own form and mindset are concerned, Chahar is confident he will be able to put in a good performance against the Lankans.
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"I am all set for the Sri Lanka tour. I bowled well in the IPL. I was in good touch. I am excited to play in Sri Lanka. In my opinion, experience gives you a lot of confidence. I have experience now and I am confident of a good showing in Sri Lanka. I am sure we will emerge victorious against Sri Lanka. Our second-string team is looking as strong as the main team. We have a lot of options," Chahar further said.
Though it is being called a second-string side, there are multiple established names who are expected to be part of the squad.
(Times of India inputs)