Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer is excited to follow his IPL teammate Shikhar Dhawan’s captaincy during the tour of Sri Lanka. A young Indian squad comprising heavily of rookies and uncapped players have arrived in Sri Lanka since the main side is in England. The team will be led by Shikhar Dhawan and will be coached by former India great Rahul Dravid. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the vice-captain.
India’s three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka will begin on July 13 and Dhawan will become the team’s 24th ODI captain.
In an interview with The Grade Cricketer, Shreyas Iyer revealed that although he hasn’t seen Dhawan lead a lot before, he has all the necessary skills to become a ‘really good’ leader.
“He’s a very funny guy and a really good captain. I haven’t seen him captaining before, only in one series I guess, against Bangladesh, that was for India ‘A’ as well. I’m really looking forward to Shikhar being captain and taking all the tough decisions out there,” said Iyer.
Although the opening batsman hasn’t captained India’s senior team before, he has plenty of experience captaining Delhi sides in domestic cricket. He has also led India A sides and the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL before.
Shreyas Iyer also spoke about Rahul Dravid who will be serving as the head coach of the side against Sri Lanka. Dravid has done a brilliant job in transforming Indian cricket over the last few years and several youngsters who have found international success directly or indirectly owe much of it to The Wall’s tutelage. Iyer also shed light on his own experiences with Dravid and seemed confident that the uncapped players and rookies will enjoy their time with him.
“I am fairly sure that everyone will get a good amount of chances to play in Sri Lanka even though we are around 20 who have gone to play. Playing under Rahul Dravid has been a great experience for me as well in the past.
“I feel he’s an amazing coach, I have played under him in India ‘A’ and also captained under him. He gives you a lot of freedom as a captain and as a player, he gives you a lot of opportunities. He doesn’t put a lot of pressure on you,” Iyer concluded.
The Delhi Capitals captain is currently recovering from a shoulder injury which he had sustained against England. Iyer has, however, expressed confidence that he will be available to lead Delhi Capitals when the IPL resumes in UAE.
