The Indian cricket team will begin their campaign against the West Indies on Friday evening. Shikhar Dhawan will be captaining the Indian side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the ODI matches, but will return later to lead the team in the T20I series.
Apart from Rohit, Indian selectors have rested a number of senior players in the tour of West Indies. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested following his injury while Virat Kohli has also been excluded for the tour. Several youngsters have been added to the squad to face the Windies, such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan.
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Ahead of the match, captain Shikhar Dhawan hailed the youngsters’ abilities, saying they will be playing with a smile in the game.
“Of course we will enjoy. The weather in West Indies will be a bit more challenging. The boys are well prepared. They are just waiting for an opportunity but the preparation that goes into it also matters a lot,” Dhawan said in a video released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“The youngsters that are going are also quite mature. They will get some good exposure of playing in the West Indies,” he said.
“They have already played in the IPL. So the youngsters will get all that experience and we will be playing there with lots of smiles. Great opportunity for us to peak over there and show our talent,” Dhawan added.
This is the second time Dhawan will be captaining the Indian team. Prior to this, he had led the team in the tour of Sri Lanka.
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Ravindra Jadeja was supposed to be deputy to Dhawan in the ODI matches. However, according to reports, he has picked up an injury and might be out for the ODI matches and is set to return for the T20I games.
Shardul Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal are some of the other experienced names in the squad, however, a replacement is yet to be announced for Jadeja.
India face West Indies in the first ODI from 7 pm on Friday evening.
