Rahul Dravid, who is the coach of the Indian team for the limited overs series in Sri Lanka, said the primary objective for Shikhar Dhawan's squad will be to win the ODI and T20 series against the Lankans. Dravid said not everyone in the 20-member Indian is going to play the three ODIs and as many T20s. The former captain said the odd spot in India's T20 World Cup squad may be up for grabs and some performances in Colombo will be watched closely by the national selectors. The series against the Lankans will be played from July 13-25. (Video and images courtesy: BCCI)
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00:00 I just wanted to ask, there are the likes of Kishan, Kishan Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju
00:12 Samson in the squad and they all are looking to cement their place for the T20 World Cup
00:16 squad.
00:17 So how do you ensure that they do not take too much pressure and just focus on the six
00:21 matches against Sri Lanka?
00:23 So like you said, rightly there are a lot of people in the squad who are, you know,
00:27 obviously pushing for places or, you know, looking to cement their places in the sort
00:34 of T20 World Cup coming up.
00:36 But I think the key goal of really everyone in the squad and in the team, and we've had
00:40 a few discussions around it, is to try and win the series.
00:44 I think that's going to be the primary objective is to try and win the series.
00:48 We're going out there to play to win the series.
00:51 And hopefully people get the opportunity to put in some really good performances, you
00:56 know, in the course of us trying to win that series and give themselves the best chance
01:01 to hopefully knock on the door of the selectors.
01:04 These are only three games before the World T20.
01:07 I'm sure that, you know, the selectors and the management would have a pretty fair idea
01:11 by now as to what is the kind of squad that they are, you know, looking for at the sort
01:17 of T20 World Cup.
01:18 There's an IPL which is going to be held as well in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.
01:23 So I think they would have pretty much a good idea.
01:27 So in that sense, you know, I mean, you can't obviously just give a few people an opportunity
01:32 for maybe one or two places that maybe the sort of the team management or the selectors
01:37 might be looking for spots that they might want to fill and give them a few more options.
01:42 You know, I think that that would probably be the goal over these next three T20s.
01:48 But can't read too much into it as well because in the end, you know, when you come to the
01:52 last stage of a tournament like this, if you come to a big tournament, by the time you've
01:58 probably reached the last three games of the tournament, you've hopefully sort of finalized
02:03 on what is the kind of squad that you're looking for in that tournament.
02:06 So you know, there might be the odd spots and people could raise their hand up during
02:10 this tournament and during these three T20 games and maybe make a, like I said, knock
02:15 on the doors of the selectors.
02:18 You know, in terms of, yeah, I've had a, I mean, obviously a couple of selectors with
02:22 us who are going to be traveling with us.
02:23 So it gives me a chance, you know, once we get to Sri Lanka to interact with them and
02:27 see what they're thinking and what their ideas are.
02:29 Had a little bit of a contact with the management out there.
02:33 I haven't had a chance to sort of, haven't disturbed them during the World Test Championship,
02:37 but we'll probably touch base with them sometime over the next couple of weeks and see what
02:43 maybe some of their thoughts are and what they're thinking about over the next, over
02:47 the sort of, for the T20 World Cup and whether we can implement some of that in these three
02:52 games.
02:53 Rahul, at India, A and India U19, you've often mentioned that, you know, it's about giving
02:58 everyone an opportunity.
02:59 For a tour like this, consisting of six games, how do you kind of draw a balance between
03:04 opportunities and consistency in selection?
03:07 Yeah, I mean, it's a slightly different.
03:10 I mean, I think, you know, when you're at a developmental level or you're working at
03:15 a pathway level, obviously the goal of those tours is slightly different to something like
03:20 this.
03:21 We have a really big squad here as well.
03:22 We have 20 players in the team.
03:24 So you know, I think it's probably going to be unrealistic to expect us in a short tour
03:28 like this with three games, three one days and three T20s to give everyone an opportunity.
03:34 Look, in terms of selection, you know, I'll be discussing with Shikhar and the selectors
03:39 who are there as well and we'll come up with what we think is the best combination to try
03:42 and win this series and then see along the way.
03:45 I mean, surely there are a lot of young kids and obviously it's a great experience for
03:48 them even if they don't play.
03:51 Just the opportunity to be on a trip with the Indian team and get a chance to interact
03:54 with the likes of Shikhar and Bhuvi and a lot of other senior players, Harbik and stuff.
03:58 I think there's a lot that can be gained and learned from that experience.
04:02 So we'll try and give them as many sort of opportunities as we can, but we'll have to
04:06 play it by ear.
04:07 And each and every tour and each and every team that you work with has very different
04:11 goals, right, when you're working with an under-19 team or an A team.
04:14 I think what you're trying to achieve with that is very different to maybe what you might
04:17 be trying to achieve here as well.
04:19 So you know, in principle, yeah, I think just the fact that, you know, there are a lot of
04:25 youngsters on this tour, I think a lot of guys are going to get the opportunity.
04:28 Whether everyone is going to get the opportunity, probably the score of 20 is a bit unrealistic.
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