Reetinder Singh Sodhi said that that coach Rahul Dravid and captain Shikhar Dhawan will not be concerned by former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga’s statement and that they will remain focused on beating the Lankans.
Sri Lanka legend Arjuna Ranatunga took the cricketing fraternity by storm when he stated that the second-string Indian team touring is an insult to Sri Lanka cricket. He received heavy backlash from his colleagues, including the cricketing board of the country. The latest to address Arjuna Ranatunga’s comments is former India cricketer Reetinder Singh Sodhi.
_1625454246623_1625454259733.jpg "Rahul Dravid And Shikhar Dhawan Will Not Be Concerned By Ranatunga's Statement, Says Former Indian Cricketer(Ht Collage)")
Reetinder Singh Sodhi: Rahul Dravid And Shikhar Dhawan Won’t Be Concerned With Arjuna Ranatunga’s Statement
Reetinder Singh Sodhi said that that coach Rahul Dravid and captain Shikhar Dhawan will not be concerned by the former 1996 World Cup-winning skipper’s statement and that they will remain focused on beating the Lankans.
While speaking during a discussion, Reetinder Singh Sodhi observed that the Indian management will simply ignore the former Sri Lanka skipper’s comments, who may have to admit his mistake and eat his words up when India wins.
“I feel Rahul Dravid and Shikhar Dhawan will not bother about this statement. They will just concentrate on their cricket and beat Sri Lanka hands down. After that when the statement is run, it will be very interesting. Arjuna Ranatunga will have to eat his own words.”
India has sent a team of white-ball specialists for the three ODIs and as many T20Is to Sri Lanka. Even though the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja, among others, are busy preparing in England for the forthcoming five-match series, the Shikhar Dhawan-led squad has a mix of experience and youth.
Shikhar Dhawan who was the leading run-scorer in IPL 2021 before it was postponed with 380 runs from 8 games averaging 54.28 will captain the 20 members Indian side. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the vice-captain of the team during the tour of Sri Lanka.
Devdutt Padikkal (473 runs in IPL 2020 and 195 runs in IPL 2021) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (204 runs in IPL 2020 and 196 runs in IPL 2021), Prithvi Shaw (308 runs in IPL 2021 and 8277 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy), and Nitish Rana (300 runs in every edition since IPL 2017 and 201 runs in 7 games in IPL 2021) have been rewarded for their performances in IPL and domestic circuit.
Reetinder Singh Sodhi: Only 6 Cricketers Can Debut, Others Have Represented & Some Even Played In All 3 Formats Which Bears Testimony Of How Good Team Is
Adding further, Reetinder Singh Sodhi pointed that one should never take their opponent lightly.
“It is said you should never take your opposition lightly. The sort of statements that have been made, there is no need for that, they do not make sense. What we have done in Australia when our main players were injured, these boys were the top performers there,” said former all-rounder Sodhi.
He concluded his point by reminding Ranatunga about India’s bench strength, saying: “Only six guys can make their debut. All the remaining players have worn the Indian jersey and some of them have played in all three formats. I think this is testimony to the fact how good this team is.”
The first game of the tour begins with the first ODI on Tuesday, July 13. The other two ODIs will take place on 16 and 18 July while the T20Is will take place on 21, 23, and 25 July.
The Premadasa Stadium in Colombo will host all six games. Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham, and Chetan Sakariya got maiden India call-ups while spinner Varun Chakravarthy is also yet to debut after missing the earlier two tours despite being selected owing to an injury.