Watch: Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson involved in friendly banter ahead of IND-NZ ODI series opener

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and India’s stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan were seen involved in a friendly banter before the first ODI of the three-match series which begins on Friday, November 25 at Eden Park in Auckland.

While Williamson returned to the New Zealand squad after missing the third and final T20I owing to a prior medical appointment, Dhawan, who is now only part of India’s ODI squad will lead the team in the absence of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

Team India won the T20 series 1-0 under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya.

Before the trophy unveiling ceremony, both the skippers were seen having some banter at Eden park as the duo unveiled the ODI trophy on Thursday.

The former Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates were also spotted conversing as they walked to the pavilion at Eden Park, where they were posing with the ODI trophy.

Watch:

Smiles, friendly banter & the trophy  unveil! #TeamIndia | #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/3R2zh0znZ3

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 24, 2022

Dhawan is frequently utilised mainly when veteran players like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli are rested. He was named captain for the Zimbabwe tour, but Rahul took over once he was cleared medically for the series. Such decisions can be demotivating, but Dhawan prefers not to read too much into them.

“I wasn’t hurt. Because whatever happens, happens for the good. I got to captain in the series against South Africa. That too happened because of the selectors,” said Dhawan in the pre-match press conference in Auckland on Thursday. “I don’t feel bad if some things don’t go my way. That’s how I think.”

“I consider myself very fortunate that I am getting captaincy at this juncture of my career. It feels good to grab this challenge. We have won quite a few good series with a young team. With KL, since he is vice-captain in the main team, and since he was going to Asia Cup and if Rohit got injured, it’s better he gets to practise for it in Zimbabwe. That was the right thing to do.”

Dhawan, who used to play in all three formats, has been quietly phased out of Tests (he last played in 2018) and T20Is (his last appearance was on a white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in July 2021, when the Test team was in England for the World Championship final) in lieu of only ODIs.

READ| ‘Not afraid of losing captaincy’, Shikhar Dhawan opens up on getting replaced by KL Rahul during Zimbabwe ODIs