Virat Kohli mulls resting key batsmen ahead of South Africa tour

Following the completion of New Zealand and Sri Lanka series, India embark on an overseas mission again to South Africa.

Team India are already under a hectic schedule as they have been playing non-stop competitive cricket since July. Starting form the West Indies tour followed by a Sri Lankan tour and then a home series against Australia and now against New Zealand from Sunday, they have been playing cricket day in and day out. Following the completion of the New Zealand series, Sri Lanka follow back with a complete tour and then India embark on an overseas mission again to South Africa. Clearly, there’s hardly any time to breathe for the Indian cricketers. However, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has said that he might consider resting a few of his key batsmen ahead of the South African tour so that they are free from fatigue. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs New Zealand 2017-18, 1st ODI at Mumbai

“Yes, we have spoken about it [the schedule], it’s become quite hectic. That’s something we will definitely have to sit and discuss in future. Because, if you look at New Zealand, they haven’t played any cricket after Champions Trophy. There has been such a good lay off. It can be the difference in doing well in a big tournament and performing poorly. Everyone needs time to come back, especially the fast bowlers. So we are doing that now with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami. We want them fresh for a Test season coming up,” said Kohli during a press conference in Mumbai, as reported by PTI. IND vs NZ 2017-18: Kohli confirms Rahane as 3rd opener

“We don’t want overtired players and that’s something we have spoken about already. Even some of the key batsmen will definitely get some rest in the future weeks because of the importance of the away tours coming up. So we will have to figure out ways to do that. But it’s certainly a thing that we need to discuss for the future as well,” he added.

“We are expected to perform on a consistent basis. But I think the rest and time to prepare should be adequate for all. This should not be an area where players are changed according to form, you need to look at all aspects in terms of how many games you are playing, how much rest you are getting. It’s a rhythm thing. With batsmen it’s very different, with bowlers it’s even more difficult because you really need to change the way you bowl as per the demands of different formats. It’s been a combination of both giving guys chances as well as understanding the workload of bowlers who have played for a while,” he concluded.

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