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Key batsmen will be rested during New Zealand series, says Kohli

Virat Kohli says key batsmen and seamers will be rested during the New Zealand series to keep them fresh for India's upcoming overseas tours

By Pti
Ajinkya Rahane could lose his opener slot to returning Shikhar Dhawan

Mumbai, October 21: India captain Virat Kohli, faced a problem of plenty, claimed that key batsmen in the team may be rested during the series against New Zealand, starting on Sunday (October 22).

While opener KL Rahul has already been dropped from the squad, the team welcomes back Shikhar Dhawan, which means that either he or Ajinkya Rahane will open along with Rohit Sharma in the first ODI in Mumbai. Kohli's claims that key batsmen will be rested comes a day after reports said Rahane will sit out of the three-match ODI series against the Kiwis.

Kohli felt this was part of managing the workload of his key batsmen, adding that he needed them to be fresh for two upcoming overseas series. After playing against New Zealand this month and Sri Lanka next month at home, India will embark on a tour of South Africa, involving three Tests, six ODIs and three T20 Internationals in January next year. The South Africa series will be followed by a gruelling and lengthy tour of England, where India will play three T20s, three ODIs and five Tests starting July 2018.

"We have spoken about it (the schedule), it has become quite hectic," Kohli said on Saturday (October 21). "That's something we will definitely have to sit and discuss in the future. If you look at New Zealand, they haven't played any cricket after the Champions Trophy (which ended in June). There has been such a good lay-off. It can be the difference in doing well in a big tournament and performing poorly."

Kohli claimed that even bowlers, especially the seamers, will be given some time off to recover. "Everyone needs time to come back, especially the fast bowlers," Kohli said. "So we are doing that now with Umesh (Yadav) and (Mohammad) Shami. We want them fresh for a Test season coming up. We don't want overtired players and that's something we have spoken about already.

"Some of the key batsmen will definitely get some rest in the coming weeks because of the importance of the away tours coming up. So we will have to figure out ways to do that. But it's certainly a thing that we need to discuss for the future as well."

After the limited-overs series against New Zealand, India are scheduled to play Sri Lanka in a three-Test, three-ODI and three-T20I match series beginning in Kolkata on November 16. Kohli admitted that everyone in the team has to be given sufficient time to rest.

"We are expected to perform on a consistent basis," Kohli said. "But I think the rest and time to prepare should be adequate for all. This should not be an area where players are changed according to form, you need to look at all aspects in terms of how many games you are playing, how much rest you are getting."

The 28-year-old captain added that the team management would take a call on managing the workload of the bowlers across all formats. "With bowlers, it's even more difficult (than the batsmen) because you really need to change the way you bowl as per the demands of different formats," he said. "It's been a combination of both giving guys chances as well as understanding the workload of bowlers who have played for a while," Kohli said.

Story first published: Saturday, October 21, 2017, 18:26 [IST]
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