Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra feels newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir should have rested the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka. The pair was earlier expected to be rested for the tour but since Gambhir is not a big fan of managing workload, the duo was named in the ODI squad.

Meanwhile, Rohit and Virat announced their T20I retirement after taking the team to glory in the T20 World Cup in Barbados. While Rohit scored 257 runs in eight matches of the tournament, Kohli scored a vital knock of 76 runs in the all-important final against South Africa.

While Rohit has scored two attacking fifties in the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka, Kohli has been dismissed for 24 and 14 in the first two games. 

“The next series India play is 2-3 months later, a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli…I feel there was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players during this series. I know Gambhir is a new coach, and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it isn’t like he doesn’t know the two of them,” Nehra said on Sony Sports Network.

“He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit. So it was a good opportunity for him to try out the new players, and Rohit and Kohli could play when the home season begins. I’m not saying it is a wrong approach, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series,” Nehra added.

Meanwhile, India lost the second ODI by 32 runs as they failed to chase down 241 runs. Furthermore, the opening game of the series ended in a tie after India could not get over the line in the run-chase of 231.

The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be played at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Wednesday.