Virat Kohli is a ‘bull’, but he needed a break to return fresh: Ravi Shastri

The Indian selectors’ decision to rest Virat Kohli for the 2018 Asia Cup raised a lot of eyebrows with the host broadcasters even questioning the move. While chief selector MSK Prasad had made it clear that the move was aimed at keeping an eye on the workload of the India captain, chief coach Ravi Shastri has said that it is sometimes necessary to give players a break so that mental fatigue doesn’t affect their performance.

“Virat needed this rest. Physically he is a bull. You can’t get him out of the ground. And the thing with Virat is if he plays, then you know the level of intensity he brings. So it was a case of just mental fatigue, giving him a break, take your mind off cricket and then come back fresh”, Shastri was quoted as saying by Gulf News.

Like Prasad, Shastri added that the other players will also be given rest from time to time to ensure that they are fresh and raring to go. “And we will have to do it with a lot of other players. You know like Bumah (Jasprit Bumrah), Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), we have to sustain them and keep them energetic,” he added.

Interestingly, the selectors have already rested Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar for the two-Test series against West Indies after they bowled their hearts out in the scorching heat in UAE during the Asia Cup.

Stung by defeat in England and heading to Australia for a tough tour next month, India’s cricketers are looking for some confidence-boosting home victories against the West Indies from Thursday. The number one Test side and the winner of last week’s Asia Cup start as favourites against the eighth-ranked West Indies in the series of two Tests, five one-day internationals and three twenty20 games.

“West Indies doesn’t have a team to compete against India. They don’t stand a chance at all,” veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh told AFP ahead of the first Test in Rajkot starting on Thursday.

But India may not find it so easy, with series defeats this year in England and South Africa revealing some serious chinks in India’s armour, at least away from home. India, under talismanic captain Virat Kohli, have new faces in uncapped batsman Mayank Agarwal and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj.

First Published: Oct 02, 2018 11:04 IST