Cricketing enthusiasts and pundits were left intrigued when it was announced that two of India’s batting stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, would be rested for the first two One Day Internationals (ODIs) of the home series against Australia.

The decision was met with a mix of curiosity and anticipation as fans eagerly awaited the rationale behind this strategic move. Rahul Dravid, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, has shed light on the well-thought-out plan behind this bold decision.

Team Blue is all set to give the final touch to their preparations for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 with a home series against Australia. Notably, the Indian squad will take on Australia in a three-match ODI series, starting on Friday, September 22, in Mohali.

Meanwhile, ahead of the opening clash, the Indian cricket team’s head coach, Rahul Dravid, has revealed the reason behind resting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the first two ODIs against Australia.

Rahul said that the decision was made in order to give the senior players a break and to manage their workload ahead of the World Cup. The head coach stressed that it was important to give them a rest so that they could be fresh for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, starting on October 5.

While saying that there are a lot of talented players in the squad and the team management wanted to give them a chance to prove themselves, the legendary cricketer revealed that the decision to rest Rohit and Virat was taken after mutual discussion and consultation.

Indian head coach said in the pre-match press conference: “With people like Virat and Rohit specifically, from our perspective, it’s really important that we get them to that first game of the World Cup, physically and mentally in the space that they want to be in. At this level, with the amount of cricket that they’ve played, they know how they need to prepare themselves. A lot of these decisions are made in discussion in them – all our players, not only the two of them. But certainly, the senior and the more experienced guys kind of have their routines and know what they need to do to get into that first game just in the right frame of mind,”

“We discuss with them on how best they’d like to prepare in the lead-up to big events like the World Cup. And we came up with the mutual decision on deciding that these two games were good for them to take off, just to refresh mentally more than anything else. And then come back in Rajkot and then it’s going to be a tough couple of months ahead for us,” he added.