3 reasons why Rohit Sharma taking rest is a good thing for ODIs against West Indies
India, without Rohit Sharma, are set to take on West Indies in a three-match ODI series. For context, this is not a World Cup year and this series is not even a part of the World Cup Super League. India will be without Rohit, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya. Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side in three ODIs and this series is a chance for the team to test their bench strength.
West Indies, on the other hand, have not been in the best of form in this format. They are on a six-match losing streak and this gives India to test the young players in the squad. Rohit Sharma will not be a part of this squad, but he will be closely watching the progress of the team.
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Here, we take a look at three reasons why Rohit Sharma resting for this series is a good move:
#3 Opportunity for selectors to look at talent
With a number of senior players rested for this series, it is a great opportunity for young players to put up their name for selection. The T20 World Cup is slated to be held later this year and with the 50-over World Cup in India next year, these players have everything to pay for.
With Shikhar Dhawan being the only experienced player in the top order, the absence of Rohit Sharma will force fringe players to take up more responsibility with an extended rope.
#2 Managing the workload
Last week, Ben Stokes called it quits from ODIs owing to the crammed schedule. The Indian team's fixtures are equally jam-packed and hence, the rest to their captain Rohit Sharma makes sense since this series is not part of the World Cup Super Series.
Over the past year, Rohit has been injured quite frequently and there has to be a way to manage him considering India have two massive tournaments in the next two years.
Rohit did not have an entirely good series in England and this rest could rejuvenate him for the T20I series against West Indies.
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#1 Opportunity for Shikhar Dhawan to shine
Shikhar Dhawan struggled to hit his stride in the ODI series against England. Without Rohit, Dhawan would have to take up more responsibility and this could free him up.
Apart from this, he is also eyeing a personal milestone. Dhawan currently stands in fifth spot behind Virat Kohli (790 runs in 15 matches), MS Dhoni (458 runs in 15 matches), Yuvraj Singh (419 runs in 14 matches) and Rohit (348 runs in 14 matches) for scoring the most runs in West Indies.
There have been talks over this position in the side. However, the left-hander was not bothered by the constant chatter.
“I have been hearing it for 10 years," Dhawan said when asked about his performances on the eve of three-match ODI series against West Indies.
“It doesn’t bother me. They keep talking, I keep performing. If it did affect me, I wouldn’t have reached where I am today," he added.