[Watch] Shikhar Dhawan gears up for Sri Lanka tour by putting in the hard yards in the gym
Shikhar Dhawan was seen putting in the hard yards in a gym session ahead of India's limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka. The opening batsman has been named as the skipper of the young side as most of the senior members are currently on the tour of England.
Shikhar Dhawan shared a series of pictures and clips on Instagram where he was seen getting up to match speed for the Sri Lanka tour. Dhawan captioned the picture:
"Stronger everyday, Training under @smartstrengthindia’s watchful eye."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named as Shikhar Dhawan's deputy. As many as 6 uncapped players have been given a chance in the squad of 20 players, while selectors have also picked 5 net bowlers.
The series begins on July 13, where India will play 3 ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka. Team India is set to fly out to Colombo on June 28 after completing a 14-day quarantine period in Mumbai, which begins on June 14.
Shikhar Dhawan's record against Sri Lanka in limited-overs cricket
The 35-year-old batsman has enjoyed playing against the island nation over the years, averaging 70.21 in 16 ODI encounters, his best against any nation where he has played 5 games or more.
Dhawan has four centuries and five half-centuries to his name against Sri Lanka in ODIs with a best of 132, which came in Dambulla in 2017. The batsman will be keen to carry on with his great form against the Lankan nation.
Shikhar Dhawan has enjoyed playing against Sri Lanka in T20Is as well. In 8 innings in the shortest format, the opening batsman has scored 289 runs at an average of 41.29 at a decent strike rate of 136.97.
India's squad against Sri Lanka
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutti Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (VC), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh