Vaibhav Tripathi
India men’s team head coach Rahul Dravid justified his decision to rest skipper Rohit Sharma and experienced batter Virat Kohli in the second ODI against West Indies in Barbados. Despite the six-wicket loss, the India coach pointed out that they need to experiment in order to give the fringe players an opportunity to prove themselves before the World Cup.
Sanju Samson and Axar Patel featured in the playing XI, replacing Rohit and Kohli for the second ODI. “We have to try out other people and give other people chances so in a worst-case scenario at least they have game time behind them and it gives us an opportunity to make some decisions on the players. In a series like this with only two or three matches to go, playing Rohit and Virat would not have given us too many answers,” said Dravid after the second ODI.
“With the injuries we have in the NCA and some uncertainty surrounding them, we wanted to give some of the other boys a chance so if required they can play,” added Dravid.