'The weather will be a challenge': Shikhar Dhawan says young Team India to play in West Indies 'with lots of smiles'

Shikhar Dhawan will captain a young Indian team in their three-match ODI series in the West Indies.

Shikhar Dhawan will be captaining the Indian on a tour for the second time when they face the West Indies in a three-match ODI series starting on Friday. Dhawan had earlier led India in their tour of Sri Lanka and, as was the case at the time, the side will be devoid of some of its biggest stars in this series.

Dhawan had earlier led India in their tour of Sri Lanka last year,  (Getty Images)

Dhawan, however, expects the series to provide some much needed exposure for the younger players on the tour. “Of course we will enjoy. The weather in West Indies will be a bit more challenging. The boys are well prepared. They are just waiting for an opportunity but the preparation that goes into it also matters a lot,” said Dhawan in a video tweeted out by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“The youngsters that are going are also quite mature. They will get some good exposure of playing in the West Indies. They have already played in the IPL. So the youngsters will get all that experience and we will be playing there with lots of smiles. Great opportunity for us to peak over there and show our talent,” he said.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will be the vice-captain of the team. The entire series will be played in Port of Spain. India were forced to move their first net session since arriving in Trinidad indoors due to rain.

“We have all come from the UK so we thought it will be good if we got a nets session. But then it started raining so we had to go indoors. It was good anyhow, better than doing nothing. Batters got some practice,” batter Shubman Gill says in a video of the session shared by the BCCI.