Was dropping Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli the right decision? India coach Rahul Dravid gives 'honest' reply

India's soft endoskeleton took massive exposure as they were beaten comprehensively by West Indies in the 2nd ODI on Saturday (July 29).

The Indian team left out Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the match as Axar Patel and Sanju Samson came in replacing them. But the whole batting performance was disappointing as India succumbed to a poor defeat.

Batting first, they could manage only 181 runs. And in reply, the home side chased it down with overs to spare. India's batters couldn't deal as Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson and others fell cheaply, despite a superb opening stand of 90 runs between Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan.

Barring Ishan Kishan, who scored consecutive half-centuries with yet another scintillating knock, all other batters faltered in the match.

But was dropping Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli together the right decision? Since yesterday, netizens have criticised the Indian team management for the call of resting both senior players together. But India coach Rahul Dravid defended the decision.

When asked about why India opted with those changes, Rahul Dravid revealed the team had to do it to try out new players. Amid the absence of players like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and others, the India coach revealed that giving opportunities to fringe players was necessary as a backup option for the upcoming World Cup.

"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. 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," Dravid said after the match.

"It also gives us the opportunity to make some decisions on players. Honestly in a series like this with 2-3 matches to go before the Asia Cup, playing Kohli and Rohit would have not given us any answers. But with the injuries we have in the NCA and some uncertainty around them we just wanted to give others a chance," the India coach added.

It is to be seen whether team India persists with the same experiment in the series decider on Tuesday (August 1).