Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan believes the T20 World Cup standby players can look at the ODI series as preparation. The likes of Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, and Shreyas Iyer are India’s standby players in the T20 World Cup, who are also part of the ODI series against South Africa.
The Indian team traveled to Australia on Wednesday without their 15th player, who will be named later. The trio of Iyer, Chahar, and Bishnoi will also join their teammates later.
Deepak Chahar recently played in the T20I series against Australia and South Africa but Iyer and Bishnoi haven’t had enough game time in the recent past. Thus, they will be looking to build their confidence ahead of the T20I showpiece.
“Of course, it is very important because the more matches they (standby players) are going to play, they will be in a better groove and a better mindset. If the boys perform well, then obviously the confidence will help them. Who knows they might get a chance so they can look at this series as preparation,” Dhawan said in the press conference on the eve of the first ODI.
On the other hand, the Indian selectors had given maiden ODI calls-up to Rajat Patidar and Mukesh Kumar. Dhawan added that the youngsters have grown in confidence as they have been performing consistently.
“If you look at the performance of our youngsters, the transition that happened shows their confidence. The more they play, they will get more experience, their confidence level will increase. They will learn from mistakes. Even for me as well. Keeping 2023 (World Cup) in mind, the more matches I play will be more beneficial for me.
“The team is very good and with this team, we played in West Indies and Zimbabwe. Most of the players are the same, there are one or two new players. We share a good tuning. The new boys have brought in new energy. They have been doing well in the last few series,” Dhawan added.
Dhawan will be looking to lead from the front and get the best out of his players in the ODI series against the Proteas.
The first ODI will be played on Thursday.
