Team India to rest key players for more games leading up to the World Cup

The move is in line with the ambition of keeping players as fresh as possible.

The team management would want to keep their key players fresh before the World Cup | Getty

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian team management have decided to further rest some of their key players across all formats before next year's all-important ICC Cricket World Cup in England.

The move is in line with the ambition of keeping players as fresh as possible and better manage their workload, as India continues to play a substantial amount of games in different formats, these days. 

India captain Virat Kohli was rested for the just-concluded Asia Cup 2018 and despite widespread criticism of the decision, the board is determined to keep his fitness as an ultimate priority. Virat was also kept away from the Nidahas Trophy and Afghanistan Test, which were played in the middle of the marquee tours of South Africa and England. 

On the other hand, MSK Prasad led selection committee decided to rest premier all-format fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for the ongoing India-West Indies Test series. The pair might just feature for the limited-overs leg of the home series, though. 

India are scheduled to play a number of international games in Australia, New Zealand and again at home against Australia and Zimbabwe before the 2019 IPL. Aware of the gruelling schedule, the players will have to keep themselves extremely fit for it. 

According to reports, the selectors and the team management have decided to discuss who should be resting from which series and there will be meeting conducted regarding the same, during the ongoing home series. 

A BCCI source close to the development was quoted saying on Times of India as, "Virat could be rested again if need be to ensure he is fit for the World Cup. It is a rotation policy which the team has initiated to keep the best combination for the World Cup in June 2019."

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 08 Oct, 2018

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