Rahul Dravid: Unrealistic to give opportunity to all youngsters in short series

Rahul Dravid. Pic/AP, PTI

Rahul Dravid, India head coach for the Sri Lanka tour, on Sunday asserted that not every youngster would get an opportunity in the upcoming tour but still, the series will be a learning path for the young guns.

India and Sri Lanka will lock horns in three ODIs and three T20Is, beginning July 13. The likes of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav are in the white-ball squad and they all would be looking to cement their place in the T20 World Cup squad.

"It's slightly different. When you're at the developmental level, the goal is different from this. We have a really good squad here, 20 players in the team," Dravid said during a pre-departure press conference on Sunday.

"I think it's probably going to be unrealistic to expect us in a short tour like this we three ODIs and T20Is to give everyone an opportunity," he added.

The former Indian skipper said the best possible combination would be picked against Sri Lanka and even if some players miss out, they can learn from the senior players' experience.

"We'll come up with what we think is the best combination to try and win the series. And then see along the way, I mean surely there are a lot of young kids even if they don't play, it's a great opportunity for them to learn from seniors like Shikhar Bhuvi," said Dravid.

"I think there is a lot which can be gained and learned from this tour," he added. Talking about the future of A tours of Team India, Dravid said, It's a difficult situation for every country. It's a big challenge. Priority has been international cricket and IPL, so hopefully next few months we can put in a programme."

"It's hard to put a date in these uncertain times. Only when things improve can this kind of conversations be had with other boards," he added.

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India's squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya.

Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh.

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