Reports: Rohit Sharma to be rested for T20I series against Australia

The All India Selection Committee is unlikely to make any change when they pick the ODI squad against Australia on February 15.

The five-match ODI series between India and Australia series will start on March 2.

The team for the two-match T20I series will be announced along with the one for the ODIs.

It has been learnt that the team management as well as the selection committee are on the same page and the Indian squad that will play against Australia is likely to be a mirror-image of the one that will be going to England for the World Cup.

There is a possibility that the selectors may pick 16 members for the ODIs instead of 15 in order to check all the players in contention for the World Cup.

“There is a possibility that Rohit Sharma may be rested for the two T20 Internationals as Virat Kohli will be back. But when it comes to selecting the ODI squad, there won’t be any experiments with only five matches to go,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.

When asked about the much talked workload management programme, the official said, “Most of our ODI boys will be getting good two and half weeks of rest. Well, the pacers can be rotated during the five matches but no one will be kept out of the squad and rested. Workload management will be required more during the IPL.

“As of now, there are only two spots that are up for grabs. The battle is for second wicket-keeper between Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant along with third opener’s slot. The team management at least won’t experiment during the first three games,” he informed.

It is also reported that Shikhar Dhawan may be rested for the final two ODIs against Australia just to check if KL Rahul has found his form back and is ready for the mega event.

“However, it won’t be a case of any surprise selection as of now. It will just be a case of who plays on the day. Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar and Shami are all fit and available. Along with Khaleel, these four will be rotated to check the combination, more than the workload management,” the official added.

from Blog – The Cricket Times | CricketTimes.com http://bit.ly/2X2jnes