"You can't sustain all your best players playing back-to-back cricket" - Former Sri Lankan skipper on India's World Cup workload management

There has been a lot of talk about how India will manage their players ahead of the 2023 World Cup, especially those who play across multiple formats. Some reports also claimed that the team management and the selectors have shortlisted 20 players for the showpiece event in October.

However, former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes it is important to have a clear plan as to how to rotate the best players to keep them fresh and ready for the World Cup.

Speaking on the Star Sports show 'Road to World Cup Glory', Kumar Sangakkara explained the importance of players receiving ample breaks before a big event like the ODI World Cup. He said:

“You can’t sustain all your best players playing back-to-back cricket in every format and expect all of them to be fit and ready, you have to really manage the workload, you can have squads of 20, 30 whatever you want.

"But at the end of the day, you got to identify very early what your core side is, what the core is going to be around which you build all the other players to add on."

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Kumar Sangakkara's advice to India's backup players

Kumar Sangakkara also opined that even the fringe players in the Indian ODI setup should perform with a belief that they can still make the cut for the final 15-member squad for the World Cup.

The Sri Lankan legend also spoke about the importance of India understanding the brand of cricket that needs to be played with the ODI game changing rapidly. He stated:

"Your best players have to play a lot of ODI cricket, the rest that are in support can be rotated around them, but everyone should know that they stand a fighting chance to be in that 15.

"They must play enough ODI cricket, get enough cricket in their legs and bodies, to make sure they are fit, that they know how to play the ODI game in this year and they are fluent and they play together as a team."

Will India finally end their decade-long wait for an ICC Trophy by winning the World Cup this year? Let us know in the comments.