Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: Team India coach Ravi Shastri revealed on Tuesday why regular skipper Virat Kohli opted out of the 2018 Asia Cup, as Rohit Sharma led India to their record seventh continental title.
“Virat needed this rest. Physically he is a bull. You can’t keep him out of the ground. And the thing with Virat is if he plays, then you know the level of intensity he brings. So it was a case of just mental fatigue, giving him a break, take your mind off cricket and then come back fresh”, he was quoted as saying by Gulf News.
Shastri also added that others too might follow Kohli’s step to manage their workload.
“And we will have to do it with a lot of other players. You know like Bumah (Jasprit Bumrah), Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), we have to sustain them and keep them energetic”, he added.
Kohli will be back to lead the team again as Team India faces West Indies in a two-match Test series. There were two new faces in the 15-man squad, as Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj received their maiden Test call-ups.
Pacer Ishant Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were not considered for selection due to injuries.
“Taking stock of the recent workload, the selectors have decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Both Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya were not considered for selection as they are yet to recover from their injuries,” BCCI had said in a statement announcing the squad.
Shikhar Dhawan was a notable absentee, as Dinesh Karthik and Karun Nair too were not named. Dhawan managed a total of 162 from eight innings on the tour of England. His highest score, 44, came in India’s winning cause, but that too in relaxed circumstances. Dhawan had starts throughout the series, without never looking like he was set for a big one. Not only the scores of 1,3 in the final Test.
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Senior India spinner Harbhajan Singh questioned some of the selections for the West Indies series.
“This is a mystery that needs to be solved. How can a person sitting on the bench for three months become so bad that he is not good enough to remain in the squad,” Harbhajan told PTI.
Harbhajan Singh was also not pleased with Rohit’s continued absence from the team. He took to twitter to question the move, saying, “No Rohit in Test team against West Indies. What are the selectors thinking actually? Anyone have a clue? Please let me know as I can’t digest this.”
