India are
on the verge of completing a 3-0 series whitewash against Sri Lanka with a young,
fearless side, led by stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan, overpowering the hosts in
the two games so far. If India win the third and final match on Friday, Dhawan will
lay claim to a new captaincy record, one that has eluded even the likes of
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly.

With a win
on Friday, Dhawan will become the only Indian skipper to complete an ODI series
whitewash on his captaincy debut. Dhoni, regarded as the best Indian captain of
all time – having led India to a treble of ICC trophies and number one ranking
in Tests – was beaten by Australia 4-2 in his first ODI series as captain in
2007.

Ganguly
first took reigns of team India in 2000 and led India to an ODI series win against
South Africa, however, he lost two matches that series. India’s regular skipper
Virat Kohli first led the country in the tri-series in West Indies in 2013,
after Dhoni was ruled out due to injury. Kohli lost his first match against the
hosts as captain.

The visitors
have made six changes for the third and final ODI on Friday, with as many as
five players making their debut in the dead-rubber match. Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana,
Chetan Sakariya, Rahul Chahar and Krishnappa Gowtham are making their debuts.
Navdeep Saini, playing in his first match of the series, is the other change.

India will
also play a three-match T20I series after the ODI series, starting July 25,
with all those matches set to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo
as well. It will be India’s final T20I outing before travelling to the UAE for
the T20I World Cup.

Dhawan stats as a player:

Dhawan has
been one of the best opening batsmen in the world, being a key cog in India’s
success in recent years. The Southpaw has played 143 ODIs for India, scoring
6,063 runs at an average of 45.93, including 17 centuries.