Former India opener Aakash Chopra is not pleased with the team management’s decision to rest Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the second ODI against West Indies. Chopra questioned whether Rohit Sharma and his teammates were overly dismissive of the visitors, noting that the World Cup isn’t far away. West Indies won the second one-day international (ODI) against India by six wickets, tying the series 1-1.
India batted first and were bowled out in the 41st over with only 181 on the board. West Indies easily took down the score with 80 balls to spare, with Shai Hope’s match-winning half-century. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested for the second ODI, which was led by Hardik Pandya.
“You might be wondering why Rohit and Kohli weren’t there. Was it because the opposition team collapsed in the last match? The West Indies looked extremely ordinary while batting first, so India thought they won’t play their main players, let’s experiment a little more. Could that have been the reason?,” Chopra said in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
Chopra stated that the team can only prepare for the World Cup if they play together in all ODIs. He noted that it is critical not only to play together, but also to bat in the proper positions.
“If that was the reason, even you could have got out in one match, that your team gets bowled out for 150, like you made 181 now. So should West Indies ask Shai Hope to rest as this Indian team is very weak? That doesn’t really cut it in my opinion because the World Cup is not too far,” Chopra added.
“The second point could be that players need rest, that a lot of cricket is happening and workload management is required. The truth is that there was one match in June (the WTC final), two matches in July that lasted seven days, and one ODI match. So you played eight days of cricket overall (in July).”
