Shikhar Dhawan Explains How South Africa ODI Series Will Help T20 World Cup Stand-By Players

All the stand-by players for the T20 World Cup, playing in the South Africa ODI series will aim to use the three games to make a case for themselves for the main squad, stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan said on Wednesday. With Jasprit Bumrah already ruled out, the series could be a shot-out between Deepak Chahar, who is in the stand-by list and Mohammed Siraj, who could make that list in the event that Mohammed Shami fails to become match-fit before October 15.

Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi and Chahar are the standbys named for the Indian team for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia and will be travelling Down Under as reserves.

"Of course, it is very important because the more matches they (standby players) are going to play, they will be in better groove and better mindset. If the boys perform well, then obviously the confidence will help them. Who knows they might get a chance so they can look at this series as preparation," Dhawan said here on the eve of the first game.

With lot of uncapped players --- Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Mukesh Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, in the squad, Dhawan feels that the exposure will only help these youngsters grow.

"If you look at the performance of our youngsters, the transition that happened that shows their confidence.

"The more they play they will get more experience, their confidence level will increase. They will learn from mistakes. Even for me as well. Keeping 2023 in mind, the more matches I play will be beneficial for me," he added.

"The team is very good and with this team we played in West Indies and Zimbabwe. Most of the players are the same, there are one or two new players. We share a good tuning. The new boys have brought in new energy. They have bee doing well in