Rohit Rested From 4-day Game in New Zealand

India’s swashbuckling batsman in the limited overs format, Rohit Sharma, has been rested for the India A tour of New Zealand. He was earlier named in India A’s squad for the 1st unofficial Test match against New Zealand A before travelling to Australia for the 3-match T20I series. Now, Rohit will leave for Australia from Mumbai on Friday (Nov 16).

The decision has been taken by the medical team of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after consulting with the team management. The decision might have mostly been taken keeping in mind the 3-match T20I series against Australia that starts next Wednesday, 21 November.

Sharma will now be available for the 1st T20I against Australia in Brisbane on November 21. Rohit’s inclusion in the Test squad for Australia was quite surprising after not considering him for the Tests against Afghanistan and England owing to his poor form in the longest format. Resting him now from the first 4-day game in New Zealand gives an impression that he won’t get a place straightaway in the 1st Test against Australia!

“Mr Rohit Sharma, who was originally named in India A’s squad for the first four-day match against New Zealand A, has been advised rest by the BCCI Medical Team in consultation with the team management and the All-India Senior Selection Committee,” said BCCI in their press release.

“The decision was taken keeping in mind his recent workload. He will now travel with India’s T20 squad that will leave for Australia on November 16, 2018 from Mumbai,” added the press release.

I personally feel that this is not a great move from the BCCI as Australia are currently not up-to-the-mark in the limited overs format and India doesn’t really need the services of Rohit in T20Is to beat them. However, with a struggling middle order in overseas conditions, India might actually need Rohit in one of the 4 Test matches against Australia; the time to be spent in New Zealand would have helped him.

India A squad for 1st 4-day game against New Zealand A: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Murali Vijay, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Parthiv Patel (wk), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rajneesh Gurbani, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat

Keep reading ReadScoops.com for similar updates on the India A tour of New Zealand.

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