Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid explained the reason behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's absence from the second ODI game against West Indies on Saturday, July 29. India suffered a shock six-wicket defeat against a team that is not even participating in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 and that has raised some big questions about the team's preparations for the marquee tournament at home.
Virat didn't get a chance to bat in the first game while Rohit was forced to bat at the no.7 position after India lost five wickets while chasing only 115 runs. But fans were further shocked when both Virat and Rohit's names were missing from the playing eleven for the second game. During the toss, the stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya revealed that the star duo has been given a rest and after the game, Dravid also echoed Hardik's words.
Dravid said that the management wants to give other players a chance. He highlighted the lack of ODI games to prepare for the Asia Cup and then the ICC World Cup, and said the team is running out of time in a lot of ways.
"This was the last chance we had to try out some of our players," Dravid told reporters after the game. "We have got a few of our players who are injured who are in the NCA (National Cricket Academy). With a month to go until the Asia Cup, we are running out of time in a lot of ways. We are hopeful that some of them (injured players) will be fit for the Asia Cup and the World Cup, but we can’t take those chances."
When asked about Virat and Rohit's snub in the recent game, the legendary cricketer said that playing Virat and Rohit would not give the management all the answers they needed before the mega tournaments. He said that trying other players will provide them with match-fit backups for the worst-case scenarios.
"We have to try out other people and give other people chances so in a worst-case scenario at least they have game time behind them and it gives us an opportunity to make some decisions on players. In a series like this with only two or three matches to go, playing Rohit and Virat would not have given us too many answers," Dravid added.
