India is set to meet the Windies in a three-match ODI series against the West Indies later in July.

However, a number of India’s cricket stars have asked for time out; chief among them are captain Rohit Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah.

Consequently, Shikhar Dhawan will be the stand-in captain for team India.

Pundits and fans alike have expressed disappointment and alarm at the missing stars and are dubbing the team that will be on tour as India’s second eleven or India’s B team.

Aakash Chopra, a former India opening batter, has questioned the rest offered to players, arguing that out-of-form players in the past were dropped and not given rest. He also noted that players were on forced involuntary rest for a long time due to COVID-19.

“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?” Chopra said on his Youtube channel.

While Rohit had found it difficult to convert good starts in the IPL and seemed to have the same problem in the first T20I, Kohli’s form across formats has seen an alarming drop this year.

“I personally think whenever someone is our of form, he should play as much cricket is 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 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,” said Chopra.

“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.”

He added, “But what happens 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?”

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Readers Bureau, Contributor

Edited by Jesus Chan

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