Rahul Dravid, India's head coach for their limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, is clear that his main objective is to win series, & not necessarily look to help players gain experience & match time, a method that Which he has implemented with great success at India A & India Under-19 levels.
"There are a lot of people in the team who are pushing for a place ahead of the T20 World Cup, but the main goal, & we have discussed it, is to try & win the series," Dravid said. Before leaving for Colombo on Sunday for the team's three ODIs & three T20 Internationals.
"That's the primary objective. Hopefully, if the guys can get a chance to put in some good performances trying to win the series, they will give themselves the best chance of knocking on the doors of the selectors."
Leaving aside tour purposes, Dravid encouraged young players to immerse themselves in the experience of being part of an Indian team on an overseas tour, & not treat the tour as a life & death situation. The message is: "Good performances will be great, but a few days off won't mean the end of the world."
"There are so many young kids, even if they don't play, it's a great opportunity to be on tour with the Indian team & interact with senior players like Shikhar (Dhawan, captain), Bhuvneshwar (Kumar, vice-chief) Captain), Hardik (Pandya)," Dravid said. "They can learn a lot from that experience. Young boys coming on this journey, they will all be keen to do well & set some sort of marker for the selectors.
"Whether they get picked for the T20 World Cup or not is a call the selectors will take, but on a tour like this & playing against an international quality opposition, if you are able to put a marker & show the ability Do it at this stage, the selectors will start paying attention. But it is by no means a life & death situation. It doesn't mean that if you don't have a good tour, you won't make it, or if If you have a good tour, you'll be an automatic selection. There's a lot to it."
Dravid said that most of the team's plans will be finalized when he talks with the Indian team management, which is currently in England for the five-Test series. Thus, the upcoming three T20Is in Sri Lanka will be India's only game in the format before the T20 World Cup in October-November. Before that, however, most of the players will play in the UAE for the rest of IPL 2021.
"These are only three games before the T20 World Cup & I am sure the selectors & the management will have a fair idea about the team they are looking for as of now. There is going to be an IPL as well." T20 World Cup," Dravid said. “It gives some people a chance for one or two places to the team management or the selectors & gives them a few more options. That will be the target for the next three T20s.
"We have some selectors traveling with us, so it gives me a chance to interact with them & see what they are thinking, what their views are. I had a little contact with the team management in England, but I am going to the WTC. But I will touch base over the next few weeks & see what their thoughts are, what they are thinking about the T20 World Cup & see if we can implement some of those plans. Can. Next three matches."
To explain whether such a multi-format arrangement, where India has one set of players competing in a Test series & the other playing white-ball cricket, is the way forward, Dravid wrote a post- The world underlined the importance of being practical in a pandemic.
"It is a unique situation in terms of quarantine & rules that has led to this situation," Dravid said. “It is very hard to predict what will happen even on a month-to-month basis. With quarantines structured as & travel restricted, the plan allows you to meet tourism & engagements, at least in the short term.
"India probably didn't have a choice for this tour. I'm not sure it's a long-term solution, as there are many more stakeholders involved: other boards, broadcasters, sponsors, media rights. Certainly, in the short term, This may reduce the pressure as it is becoming difficult for the same group of players to cross all the restrictions to play in all formats.So yes, in the short term is a good idea but for the long term, its too much discussion would be required ."
The Dhawan-led team will land in Colombo in the early hours of Monday, following which the team will undergo a three-day tough quarantine before resuming training in a controlled manner as per the guidelines laid down by Sri Lanka Cricket. The tour will begin with the ODI series (July 13, 16 & 18) followed by T20Is (July 21, 23 & 25). All the matches will be played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.