Rahul Dravid explains why Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are usually not taking part in first two ODIs vs Australia

India head coach Rahul Dravid broke his silence on the staff administration’s choice to relaxation captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli for the primary two ODIs of the three-match sequence in opposition to Australia.

India have rested 4 common members for the primary two ODIs in opposition to Australia with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav solely returning for the ultimate ODI of the three-match sequence.

“With people like Virat and Rohit specifically, from our perspective, it’s really important that we get them to that first game of the World Cup, physically and mentally in the space that they want to be in. At this level, with the amount of cricket that they’ve played, they know how they need to prepare themselves. A lot of these decisions are made in discussion in them – all our players, not only the two of them. But certainly, the senior and the more experienced guys kind of have their routines and know what they need to do to get into that first game just in the right frame of mind.

Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, for example, would want to get into runs and boost their confidence with game time as the primary goal. While Shreyas missed the majority of the Asia Cup 2023 due to back spasms, Surya’s poor ODI record has enraged fans. When asked if the 33-year-old should be concerned about the ICC deadline for changing World Cup squads, Rahul Dravid backed him.

“We talk about with them on how finest they’d like to arrange within the lead-up to huge occasions just like the World Cup. And we got here up with mutual choices on deciding that these two video games have been good for them to take off, simply to refresh mentally greater than the rest. And then come again in Rajkot after which it is going to be a tricky couple of months forward for us,” Rahul Dravid advised reporters within the pre-series press convention.

India squad for the primary two ODIs: KL Rahul (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

India squad for third ODI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel (topic to health), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

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Published On:

Sep 21, 2023