India Likely To Rest Most Of The Senior Players For Home T20I Series vs New Zealand - Reports

Most of the senior Indian cricketers are likely to be rested for the 3-match home T20I series against New Zealand that will follow the T20 World Cup.

India will host the Black Caps for 3 T20Is, starting November 17, which would be less than a week after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. The three T20Is matches are slated to be played on November 17, 19 and 21 at Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata, followed by a 2-Test series, to be played in Kanpur and Mumbai, ending on December 7.

The players will then fly to South Africa for an all-format tour; the first of the three Tests starts on December 17.

The likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma and a few others have been in the bubble for a few months since the tour of England.

“Most of the Indian players, the senior ones have now been in three back to back bubbles for four months. Possibly after T20 World Cup, you would want them to take a break and rejuvenate before the South Africa tour starting December end,” a source in the know of developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Kohli, in particular, is very likely to be rested, considering that he will be stepping down from T20I captaincy to manage his workload. That, though, means Sharma perhaps could be asked to not take rest against New Zealand. Sharma is India’s white-ball vice-captain and is all but certain to take over the T20I captaincy.

The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Venkatesh Iyer and other rising white-ball players are into contention to be called up for the series against the Kiwis.

Rahul Dravid could be the interim coach during the New Zealand series

Reports have suggested Rahul Dravid may be the interim coach for Team India during the New Zealand series as Ravi Shastri’s tenure ends with the T20 World Cup. Dravid coached the Men In Blue on their tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year when Shastri was with the Test side in England.

However, the NCA head might be required to plan out the roadmap for the U19 World Cup, slated for next year. The BCCI is confident that they will get a new coach in due course of time. It has also been reported that the BCCI is looking for an Indian coach only to replace Shastri.

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