Gautam Gambhir has declared, 'you won't get rest': Aakash Chopra predicts tough times for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra talked about senior Indian players in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not getting rest under Gautam Gambhir. He said that the new India head coach has made a strong statement that seniors won't be rested like they did earlier.

India National Cricket Team were recently involved in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. The results didn't go in their favor, but it marked the beginning of a new era under the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who was appointed to the role after the T20 World Cup 2024.

In what was a surprising move, the India National Cricket Team announced the full-strength squad for the Sri Lanka ODIs. This surprised many because teams usually don't pick full-strength teams for the bilateral series against low-ranked teams as they prefer resting seniors and playing youngsters instead.

But under Gautam Gambhir, it wasn't the case as even seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were named in the team. The duo was part of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup 2024 and less than a month they were seen in action, playing against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that under the tenure of Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri, India used the rest of the senior players in a bilateral series between two ICC events. He stressed that under Gautam Gambhir that didn't happen as both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were asked to play. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:

"What can be the path ahead? What can be the blueprint? You got to know some things about that. If you see the tenure of Mr. Rahul Dravid. In fact, before that, if you see the tenure of Mr. Ravi (Shastri), you will get to know that, if there was an unimportant bilateral series somewhere, India is playing against Zimbabwe, India is playing against Sri Lanka, the series that has no immediate consequences, the World Cup is not going to start soon and, there is nothing special.

"There were no senior players. Everyone was asked to rest. You go and rest. And, after that, we shall think about it. So, the ICC events, especially in limited overs cricket, in between 2 events, you rarely, unless it's a big series, if it's an okayish series, you say, leave it. Let the kids play. Let's try new people. That experiment continued. But, it didn't happen here. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were seen playing after a month of the World Cup. Now, you can also say that it's the year of the Champions Trophy, there are very few ODIs. So, they should play."

Gautam Gambhir has decided this - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli not getting rested

Aakash Chopra noted that India didn't gain anything from the Sri Lanka series because the Champions Trophy is far away, and according to him, it was a null-and-void series. He stated that even if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli hadn't played in the series, it wouldn't have made any difference. According to him, Gautam Gambhir has decided everyone will be playing the series if they are fit. He explained:

"But, let's also be honest that series was in August, the Champions Trophy will be in February. The next ODI series is at the beginning of February. Whatever happens in this series will be null and void now. You won't learn anything from here. Now, whether Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli would have played or not, it wouldn't have made a difference in the selection of the Champions Trophy or our performance.

"There are 10 Test matches in between, a lot of cricket will be played. Rohit and Virat will play all the matches. I am thinking 10 out of 10 test matches. It makes no difference. Gautam Gambhir has come. So, Gautam Gambhir has decided this and declared this. He has told everyone that now, you won't get rest like this. If you are thinking that you'll skip an India seires, so, that won't happen. If you are fit, if you are available, please come and play," he concluded.