After the disappointment of the T20 World Cup, players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul were rested for the limited overs tour to New Zealand. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who got back into the action in the first ODI against Bangladesh on Sunday, revealed it is important to manage the workload of the players.
The Indian team’s schedule is always hectic and it is important for the management to keep the players’ batteries charged by giving them breaks at the right time.
Speaking ahead of the first ODI match, Rohit Sharma said, “As professionals, we have to keep up the intensity. Yes, there’s a lot of cricket and that’s why we give them breaks. And people need to understand that when we give players a break, it is only to manage the workload keeping the bigger picture in mind.”
“Cricket is not going to stop. There will always be lot of cricket and we need to manage our players. You want your best players to play with higher intensity all the time. So it is important to give them breaks, manage them as freshness is very important,” Sharma added.
Meanwhile, the next ODI World Cup is now a year away, which will be the next target of the team. However, Rohit Sharma said that they are not thinking too far ahead and want to take one series at a time.
“Every time you play a game, its preparing for something. The World Cup is still 8-9 months (10 months) from now. We can’t think so far ahead. We need to keep an eye on what we need to do as team. It is very, very important for us not to start thinking about so many things, like we need to play this guy or that guy. Me and coach (Dravid) have fair idea what to do. We will narrow it down once we come closer to the World Cup,” said Sharma.
India has given ample opportunities to youngsters in the recent times and the rookie players would want to grab their chances.
India were skittled out for 186 runs in the first ODI against Bangladesh on Sunday after a paltry batting performance. The second ODI will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Wedneday.
