‘Unworried’ Rahul Dravid Explains Why Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Were Rested- On Saturday, in the second ODI of the series against West Indies in Barbados, India suffered their first ODI loss to West Indies since December 2019, ending a streak of 9 consecutive ODI wins over them. Now the series will go into the decider on Tuesday in Trinidad, where West Indies will have an opportunity to win their first ODI bilateral series against India since 2006.
India have been experimenting with their batting in this series. In the first ODI, Rohit Sharma came in to bat at number 7 and Virat Kohli didn’t bat at all, while in the 2nd ODI, both the senior batters were rested. As West Indies showed, in particular their bowlers in both the matches, that they have the capabilities to trouble the superstar Indian batters on a pitch like Barbados, which would have also provided a good challenge for both Rohit and Kohli.
Speaking after the 6-wicket loss in the 2nd ODI, India head coach Rahul Dravid said that he’s unworried about a match loss, or potentially even a series loss as India are in the experimentation phase at the moment and are also lacking some of their first-choice players due to injury and rest.
Look at the bigger picture: Dravid on resting both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Dravid pointed out that this West Indies ODI series is their last series before the Asia Cup next month, and after that, there are 3 ODIs against Australia ahead of the World Cup. So, he explained, this series gave them a window to give opportunities to fringe players by resting both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and provide those fringe players with some international game experience.
“Honestly, this was our last chance to try some of our players. We have got four of our players who are injured and are in the NCA. With days to go for the Asia Cup and then the World Cup, we are kind of running out of time in a lot of ways. And we are hoping that some of them will be for the Asia Cup and the World Cup but we can’t take those chances. We have to try out other people and give them chances so that in worst case scenario they at least have game time behind them,” Rahul Dravid said.
“I think we will always look at the bigger picture. To be honest, at this stage in the cycle with the Asia Cup and World Cup coming up, and with the injuries we have, we have to look at the bigger picture. We can’t worry about every single game, every single series. If we do that, it will be a mistake.”
