“Only 3 games before the World Cup”: Dravid says it will be “unrealistic” to give the opportunity to all young people on the SL tour | Locust

Rahul Dravid will be the head coach of Team India when they tour Sri Lanka next month for a limited series. With the majority of the first team players in England, the coaches have chosen a second team for the tour where they will play three ODIs and as many T20 internationals.

With Dravid as their coach, it is expected that many young people will have the chance to play international cricket for India during the tour. However, Dravid maintained that it was unrealistic to expect every youngster selected for the tour to get a game as they try to make a good impression ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup.

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The series marks the return as coach of Dravid, who is based in Bengaluru as head of the National Cricket Academy. The second-tier squad, led by Shikhar Dhawan, has six uncapped players.

“… I think it will probably be unrealistic to expect a short tour like this with three games, or three days to give everyone an opportunity … and the coaches will be there as well,” Dravid said. . during the press conference before departure.

Among the players vying for a spot on the T20 squad for this year’s World Cup are the caped trio of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson. The Sri Lanka series begins with the July 13 ODIs, followed by the July 21 T20s.

The World Cup, originally scheduled for India, is expected to be held in the United Arab Emirates in October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three T20s in Sri Lanka are more important than the ODIs as this will be the last round of international matches India will play before the flagship event.

“There are a lot of people in this team looking for places or looking to consolidate their place in the upcoming World Cup, but I think the main goal of everyone in the squad and in the squad… is trying to win the series, “said the former captain of India.

“The main objective is to try to win the series and I hope people have the opportunity to perform very well. These are the only three games before the World Cup.

“I’m sure you know the managers and management now have a pretty good idea of ​​what kind of team they’re looking for.”

With the test team in England at the moment, Dravid said this tour cannot be considered an India A tour where most of the players can play.

Dravid has said in the past that one of the reasons for his success as an Indian Under-19 and A coach was the strategy of giving every player on the go a game to boost their confidence.

“There is an opportunity for maybe one or two positions that maybe the team management or the coaches might be looking for, positions they might want to fill, and give them a few more options,” he said. he declared.

“That would probably be the goal over the next three T20s and winning the series. It’s slightly different (from Tour A). When you’re at a level of development, all of these tours are a little different from something like that.

“It will be a great learning experience for young children, even if they cannot play,” said Dravid.

The big hitter said he hasn’t spoken much with team management in the UK, but plans to do so after reaching Colombo, but did not elaborate on discussions he could have with them.

“There would be a few selectors who would travel with us. Once we are there, we will interact with them and see what they think,” he said.

“We had a little contact with management there (UK)… see what their thoughts are,” he added.

(with PTI inputs)