Why Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Didn’t Play 2nd ODI? Rahul Dravid Gives Intriguing Explanation | Cricket News

Hoping to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, Team India suffered a shocking loss to West Indies in the second ODI on Saturday. After opting to bat, India stand-in captain Hardik Pandya opted to bat, with both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested. Sanju Samson was added into the XI, but failed to make a mark as India were bowled out for 181 in 40.5 overs. Ishan Kishan (55) and Shubman Gill (34) added 90 runs for the first wicket, before the visitors suffered a batting collapse.

In reply, West Indies suffered a few hiccups but won the match eventually by six wickets.

On the decision to rest Rohit and Kohli, India head coach Rahul Dravid explained that the ongoing series served them as the last chance to pull off these experiments, especially with the team set to take part in the Asia Cup, followed by the World Cup on home soil.

“We will always look into the bigger picture and we cannot think about every single game and series. In the series like this, with only two-three matches to go before the world cup and Asia cup, playing Virat and Rohit would not have given us answers,” Dravid said after the match.

Head Coach Rahul Dravid explains #TeamIndia‘s selection in the second #WIvIND ODI pic.twitter.com/65rZUtuIaV

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 29, 2023

With the management’s decision to rest Rohit and Kohli under severe criticism, Dravid said that the team isn’t “worried about others opinions”.

“We are not too worried about others opinions, these are the talented boys from our country, they all have performed and come here. It is up to them to take the opportunity when they are given the opportunity. We were little disappointed toward, we knew it was a tricky wicket and not an easy wicket to bat on but we needed to somehow get to 230-240 that could have been a very good score. We lost wickets in the middle and were 50-60 run short,” he added.

The third and final ODI will be played on Monday.