For Arjuna Ranatunga, the Indian team currently on the Sri Lanka tour, captained by Shikhar Dhawan, might be a ‘second-string’ team but the head coach Mickey Arthur has no such perceptions.
In fact, Arthur feels this Indian team is an IPL All-Stars XI.
As Virat Kohli and Co. are in the UK for the upcoming five-Test against England, a completely new Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan with Rahul Dravid as head coach will be taking on Sri Lanka in an upcoming white-ball series.
“We are under no illusion because we know this is a wonderful Indian team. The Indian team is amazing; they have got so many good cricketers - it is like an IPL All-Stars XI. They are an incredible bunch of players, Arthur told Sportstar.
Arthur then addressed Sri Lanka’s recent tour of England where they were whitewashed 0-3 in T20Is and 0-2 in ODIs and mentioned the Sri Lankan players breaching the bubble and going out for a walk was incredibly challenging for them.
“It was incredibly challenging. We had gone down a route of trying to get a vision for the 2023 World Cup and trying to give the young players some opportunities. But around that, you also need some experienced players,” the 53-year-old said.
“We lost our No. 1, 4, 5 in one go when they decided to go out and walk around Durham. It was really tough for us and we did a lot of soul searching in England. It was one of the toughest tours I have had in my 12 years as an international coach,” he signed off.
The three-match ODI series between Sri Lanka and India is slated to begin from 18 July whereas the three-T20I series will begin from 25 July with all six matches to be played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
(With Sportstar Inputs)
