COLOMBO: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckons the upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka will provide his side an opportunity to see where it stands at the moment and identify the areas that need improvement.
“It’s the start of the season for us,” Dhoni said on Wednesday, soon after the Indian team arrived to play in five ODIs and a lone Twenty20 game against the islanders.
“There are certain areas where we’ve wanted to improve, where we’ve had a discussion saying these are the areas where we need to improve upon to consistently do well. This is a nice occasion to test how much we have improved and how much further we can actually improve on the field,” he added.
Sri Lanka will be hosting the World Twenty20 in September, but Dhoni said the focus is only on the upcoming series for the time being.
“What’s important is to be in the present, which means take this series into account, not to think too much ahead about the World Twenty20.
“A good thing is most of the players who are part of this side will also be part of the Twenty20 side. We don’t really need to think ahead of time.”
Getting back to action after a month-and-a-half long break, the team headed for a practice session at the R Premadasa Stadium soon after checking in to their hotel.
“Today we landed over here, and we were on the field close to 4.30 pm.
“The good thing is the energy level is up, which means we can put in a bit more effort in the physical department and do a bit more active sports work,” Dhoni said.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Virat Kohli (vice-Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Irfan Pathan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma.
Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (Capt.), Angelo Mathews (vice-Capt.), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedara, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana. (PTI)