Rahul Dravid has said that the team management won’t judge youngsters on a few games after they gave opportunities to the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan against West Indies. Dravid also added that the team management likes to give confidence to the players in the squad.

India recently won the ODI and T20I series against West Indies, both by 3-0 margin. Current leadership of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have taken over the reigns of the Indian national team after Virat Kohli resigned from the captaincy of all formats. India gave opportunities to plenty of youngsters in the recently concluded T20I series against West Indies.

Ishan Kishan was bought by Mumbai Indians for a whooping Rs 15.25 Crore in the recent IPL mega auction. He opened for the team in all three matches of the T20I series scoring 71 runs at an average of 23.66. Ruturaj Gaikwad opened the innings for India in the last T20I and was dismissed on four runs. 

Reflecting on giving opportunities to youngsters, head coach Rahul Dravid said that the team won’t judge youngsters on a few games. 

“This is a tough format. We are asking them to play high-risk cricket. We’re asking them to play shots all the time. And we don’t judge them on a few games. It’s not the way, it’s done. We try to give people as much as possible consistent runs. We’re trying to give them opportunities to play and not judge them on a game to game basis or on one series,” said Dravid.

Dravid also praised Ishan Kishan and mentioned his previous impressive outings.

“Ishan has been picked on his potential, his performance. Yes, you cannot specify this many games. Sometimes it’s combination, sometimes it’s injuries,” he stated.

Dravid further added that the team management will give youngsters more opportunity in the future to regain confidence. 

“Never always give a player the same number of games, there cannot be a written number in stone whether it’s seven or six matches. Whether it’s Ruturaj Gaikwad or Avesh Khan today. We are not judging them on one game. They’re here because they perform and deserve to be here,” he added.

“We like to give the players confidence in the group in and around the squad and that they are not going to be judged on one game. It’s always a tricky balance. But in the larger group, I’m not concerned about one-off series. In this format, it’s going to happen.”

India will next play against Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, starting from Thursday.