India’s limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a confident man ahead of the upcoming tour of Australia next week. The captain is optimistic about the performance of youngsters in the tour and felt that the series would be a perfect platform for the relatively inexperienced cricketers to showcase their talent.
"I think this tour is a perfect platform for the young team to show its class and talent at the world stage. The guys have performed well in the domestic season and this series will give them the opportunity to build themselves for the future ahead," Dhoni said.
The Indian squad did see quite a few surprises in the form of uncapped players who were named as part of a 15-member squad. Brainder Singh Sran, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Hardik Pandya and Manish Pandey (who has one ODI cap) were all part of the limited-over squad to represent India in either ODIs or T20Is.
Dhoni assessed that among the newbies, quite a few of them would get a chance to play and said that it would help compare their performance in the domestic level to international level. "Quite a few players will get to face and play international cricket and that will help them know where they stand in the circuit," he remarked.
With an eye on the World T20 in March, the captain felt that playing the 3 T20Is in addition to the 5 ODIs, would help the team play different combinations and help players prepare for the World Cup.
"Good to have three T20 matches there. Normally in a bilateral series we play one or maximum two T20s. But now it will be good to rotate the players and try different players who will play in the World T20. I think it will help the players come in good shape," he commented.
Mahi’s go-to man on many occasions, Mohammad Shami is all set to play after returning from an injury, and the skipper was visibly pleased about this development. "Shami, as we all know, is a consistent bowler and he has won matches for us. He has worked hard in his rehab and looks in good shape. It will be interesting to see how he bowls in Australia," he said.
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