Rest Senior Players During Australia Series, Reckons Harbhajan Singh

The upcoming five-match ODI series against Australia will be India’s last chance to fine-tune all the areas before the ICC World Cup 2019. India do not have any international assignment before the World Cup after the Australia series at home. Following the series, the players will play in the Indian Premier League before flying out to England for the showpiece event. And veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that India should rest their senior players during the series.

The legendary spinner was of the opinion that that the series wins in Australia and New Zealand have made the team confident and the team can now afford to rest the big names. He also said that resting would be a welcome news for the players after the long tour in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rest Senior Players During Australia Series, Reckons Harbhajan Singh
India recently won ODI series in Australia and New Zealand (Credits: Getty)

“Confidence has been a major plus from the series in Australia and New Zealand. When you go overseas and win in such a manner against big teams, the morale of the team gets high. Every player did well there, not even one would be thinking I did not do well in these series, it has been a great tour for India, for their confidence. For the time ahead, this tour Down Under will help them a lot,” Harbhajan Singh said on Sports Tak.

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“I don’t think you need to put the best 11-13 players in play because they had a very long tour of Australia and New Zealand. If they are asked to play in India, it might be too much for their body and then there is IPL also. So it will be good if the senior players can be rested as much as possible,” he added.

Harbhajan further said that the upcoming series provides India with an opportunity to expand their pool even further. He felt that the likes of

“This can be taken a chance for players like Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal and similarly you can see Siddarth Kaul and Mayank Markande, these young players can be given a chance and the pool should be expanded. If the pool is large, more and more players will come,”  said Harbhajan Singh.

Australia’s tour of India will begin with a T20I on February 24. After the two T20Is, the five-match ODI series between Australia and India will begin on March 2 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium (Jamtha) in Nagpur will host the second ODI on the 5th.

Rest Senior Players During Australia Series, Reckons Harbhajan Singh
Australia will play two T20Is and five ODIs in India (Credits: Getty)

The third ODI will take place at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on March 8. The Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali will host the penultimate ODI on the 10th. The series will conclude with the final ODI at the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on the 13th.

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