As Virat Kohli and Co. are in UK, a completely new Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan with Rahul Dravid as head coach was announced to take on Sri Lanka for the upcoming white-ball tour that consists of three-match ODI series followed by as many T20Is.

While the XI for the first ODI between the island nation and India is not out yet, former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan feels youngster Prithvi Shaw should open the innings with skipper Shikhar Dhawan given the damage Shaw can inflict on the opposition.

“As for Prithvi Shaw, he is a better one-day and T20 player than a Test player because the way he plays, it reminds me of someone like Sehwag. He takes a lot of risk and he puts the bowling side under pressure,” Muralitharan told ESPNCricinfo.

“If he scores, India will have a good chance of winning because he can score a huge total within a short frame of time. He’s got the talent and he is fearless. He has no fear of getting out,” the legendary spinner added.

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The Sri Lankan with 800 Test wickets to his name then praised the new Indian team captain Shikhar Dhawan, as Muralitharan has worked with him when the southpaw represented Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

“India should encourage him to do that because you need players to win matches.”

“He will be very dangerous. Shikhar can go on normally. I know him very well because he was with Sunrisers and a good performer. So he can go normally and Prithvi can damage the bowling if he stays at the wicket. That’s a big advantage of India,” the 49-year-old signed off.

The ODI series between India and Sri Lanka is slated to begin from 18 July followed by a three-match T20I series from 25 July with all six matches to be played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)