3 reasons why Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being rested for 2nd ODI vs West Indies is a wrong move
India raised quite a few eyebrows by deciding to leave Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli out of the playing XI for today's ODI match against West Indies. Although the Men in Blue are yet to secure an unassailable lead in the series, they decided to rest the two senior batters, giving Sanju Samson and Axar Patel a chance to play.
Hardik Pandya came out for the toss. Explaining why Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were not in the playing XI for the second ODI in Barbados, Pandya said:
"Few questions have to be answered, Ro (Rohit Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) have been playing constant cricket, so, we thought they might rest for this game and be fresh for the 3rd ODI. Making sure the opportunities are given to the guys."
Even in the previous ODI, Rohit Sharma came out to bat at number seven while Virat Kohli did not get a chance to bat even though India lost five wickets. In this listicle now, we will look at the three reasons why resting the two senior batters is the wrong move.
#1 India have only 1 more ODI match left before Asia Cup 2023
India will play two big ODI tournaments in 2023 - Asia Cup and Cricket World Cup. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are two of the most important batters of the team, and to rest them before a tournament like Asia Cup is a little baffling.
The last time Sharma and Kohli played at their respective positions in an ODI match was back in March against Australia. They have not batted in their positions in a 50-over match after that. The series against West Indies could have helped them enter the Asia Cup in form.
Now, even if they come back in the third ODI, they will have only one proper ODI match ahead of the Asia Cup.
#2 No clarity on replacement for Virat Kohli
While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma may not be in the Indian team by the time the 2027 Cricket World Cup arrives, almost every fan knows that no batter in India is ready to take their place in the team at the moment.
Hardik Pandya is captaining India today 🇮🇳
🗣️ Hardik Pandya: “Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been playing constant cricket, so they are resting in today’s match.”
📸: JioCinema
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While Ishan Kishan has shown signs of becoming Shubman Gill's next opening partner, there is no clarity on who will bat at number three if Kohli is unavailable.
If a proper replacement option was available, giving the backup player a chance would have been a little more logical. Experimenting a month before Asia Cup did not make much sense to a bunch of cricket fans.
#3 India have made mistake of experimenting too much in the recent past
Just two years ago, India failed to make it to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in UAE because they made too many changes to the squad in a short amount of time. They gave rest to senior players and tried out other options.
Should Ishan Kishan be a part of India’s World Cup squad? 🤔🇮🇳
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When the backup players performed well, it created an unnecessary dilemma for the selectors while picking the squad. Eventually, some bizarre selections were made, and India ended up performing much below their potential. The same thing could repeat if experiments continue ahead of Cricket World Cup 2023.