“What is with all the rest? How much rest do you want?” – Aakash Chopra bashes senior Indian players alongside selection committee
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has bashed the senior Indian players, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for resting in the ODI series against West Indies later this month. The Delhi-opener has also criticized the national selection committee and the Indian team management for the same.
Since the IPL 2022, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are having a dry run with the bat. The duo were already rested for the T20I series against South Africa. However, once the white-ball series against England is concluded, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, alongside Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant, won’t be travelling for the ODI series against West Indies.
“How much rest do you want?” – Aakash Chopra asks the senior Indian players
The right-handed opener looked entirely displeased with the current policy of the rest. He questioned the Indian senior players who are constantly being rested for every other tour.
“What is with all the rest? How much rest do you want? Earlier, when a player used to be out of form, he used to be dropped and picked again only when he scored runs in domestic cricket. But now whenever someone is out of form, he rests. Are you guys not worried about it?” asked Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.
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He further pointed out the importance of game time when a player is struggling with the form. Chopra also added that the Men in Blue have had enough rest in the last couple of seasons.
“I personally think whenever someone is out of form, he should play as much cricket as possible. When there were strict bio bubbles, there was no cricket for almost six months in 2020 from March to September. Next year again you play one half of IPL and then after a gap of three-four months, you played the second half. So it’s already a rest of ten months in 2-3 years. You don’t get any more rest than this in professional sport,” added Aakash Chopra.
The former Indian opener also raised his concerns over India’s experiments with the squad rotation. The 44-year-old asked the selectors how they could possibly leave out the fringe players who took the opportunity and performed when the senior players return.
“It’s good that India keep on giving opportunities to players like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson when the big players are rested. But what when these fringe players score runs. Do you tell them that they are dropped just because the big players are available now? Won’t they feel what wrong they have done?” concluded Aakash Chopra.
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