On the eve of the first ODI against West Indies, India's stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan said that the 50-over series will present a great opportunity for the youngsters to show their talent.
The visitors will be led by Dhawan as regular skipper Rohit Sharma has been given a rest following the tour of England. Besides Rohit, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant have been rested for the ODI series. On the other hand, veteran batter Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah won’t feature in the entire tour.
In the absence of big names, the likes of Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda are expected to come to the fore.
"Of course, we will enjoy the tour. The weather in West Indies will be a bit challenging and difficult. But I feel the boys are well prepared. Just like how Siraj performed today, they aren't just waiting for the opportunity but there is preparation behind it," Dhawan said in a video released by BCCI on their official Twitter account.
"So the youngsters who will be going on the tour, they aren't just young but they're mature as well and they will get the exposure playing in West Indies. And they have played in the IPL as well," he added.
According to Dhawan, Team India have a blend of experience and youth in their ranks and he expects the team to replicate the heroics of England series in the Caribbean.
"With all this experience and youthness in our ranks, I feel we will have a great series. And lots of smiles, lots of wins. Now we have won such a big series in England, but everybody couldn't do their best."
"So, West Indies is a great opportunity for us to peak over there and show our talent," he remarked.
All the three ODIs will be played at the Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad from July 22 to July 27.
India ODI Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Akshar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
