The Indian cricket team, under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan, flew to Sri Lanka on Monday to play a three-match ODI series followed by three T20s. On Instagram, Dhawan shared a selfie with a few other players inside the flight before take-off. “Next stop, Sri Lanka!” he captioned the post, as the three players behind him — Prithvi Shaw, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Kuldeep Yadav — showed a “victory” sign. The Indian squad comprises a number of young players as most of the senior cricketers are in the UK, preparing for the five-match Test series against England.
Dhawan’s Instagram post received more than 3.75 lakh likes within four hours of being shared. Some players commented on the post and several cricket fans, too, wished the Indian team luck.
“Have my eyes on you, skip. Find me in that pic,” said right-handed top order batsman Surya Kumar Yadav. He is seen in the image sitting in the back, a few rows away.
“Happy journey brother ji and good luck,” said Rahul Chaudhari, an Indian professional kabaddi player.
“Safe travels and good luck,” commented celebrity nutritionist and life coach Luke Coutinho.
Dhawan is leading the national side for the first time in his career in the absence of regular India skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy, Rohit Sharma. Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be Dhawan’s deputy on this tour.
Both Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar were last seen in action during the first leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Former Indian skipper and National Cricket Academy director Rahul Dravid is the coach of the 20-member squad.
The players had gathered in Mumbai and were in a two-week quarantine before flying to Sri Lanka today. They will play intra-squad games to prepare for the white-ball series.
Promoted
The ODIs begin on July 13 and end on July 18. The three T20s will be played on July 21, 23, and 25. All matches will be played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
For this tour, five uncapped cricketers — Nitish Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, K Gowtham, Devdutt Padikkal, and Chetan Sakariya — have been included in the national team after their impressive performances in the IPL and various domestic tournaments.
Topics mentioned in this article