No information on Test call-up for Shaw, Padikkal and Suryakumar, says Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan, Indian captain for the Sri Lanka series, on Saturday said that the team management haven't received any confirmation about the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal and Suryakumar Yadav being called up to the Test squad for the series against England.

Earlier in the day, reports surfaced that the trio has been called up to UK after Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar returned home after suffering injuries before the five-match series.

"Nothing has been informed to us yet. We will get to know once there is any update from the BCCI management. So in that case, there is no need to change our strategy for the (Sri Lanka T20I) series," Dhawan told a virtual press conference on Saturday.

India wrapped up the ODI series 2-1 against the Islanders and handed debuts to five players in the third ODI. Dhawan said that they will continue to give new players more chances in the T20I series as well.

"We definitely plan to give opportunities to the youngsters. But it is a new series, so we will pick the best team. The aim will be to win the first two games and clinch the series. And if we need to do some experiments in the  last game, we will decide according to the situation," he said,

Dhawan also expects stiff competition from Sri Lanka, who are without regular skipper Kusal Perera due to injury.

"It will be a good competition. The Sri Lankan team has improved and they played well. Both teams have young players, so we are looking forward to some exciting contests in the series. Now that we have played three games already, both sides know each other's strengths and weaknesses. It will be a good challenge," he said.

After winning the first two matches in the ODI series, India suffered a three-wicket defeat in the final ODI after making six changes to their playing XI. 

“We had already won the ODI series, so in the last game, we could give an opportunity to the youngsters and help them gain some international experience,” Dhawan said.

India will play the first T20I against Sri Lanka on Sunday at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.