4 Indian players who should have been rested for ODIs vs West Indies

India’s tour of South Africa finally got the nod after weeks of deliberations and controversies. The Indian team is scheduled to arrive in South Africa on the 2nd of December. But the short series against the West Indies meant that the Indian players have only 4 days of rest between the last ODI and the start of the South African tour.

Indian players generally have played the most number of days in a calendar year over the last few years. But this scheduling is ridiculous considering some of the players play in all 3 formats of the game. In 2013, India has played 28 ODIs which is the most by any team. Six more matches will be added to that tally before the year ends.

Considering the amount of cricket the team is about to play in the coming months, the selectors were supposed to rest our top players for the one day matches against the West Indies. This would have also given an opportunity to some of the fringe players who deserve their chances after some good performances in the last one year or so.

These are the four top cricketers who I believe should have been rested for the upcoming series:

MS Dhoni

It’s hard to realize the fact that captain cool is currently the oldest member in that one day squad. No other team around the world has a captain who is a wicket keeper batsman across all three formats. He is 32 years old and has been India’s captain cum keeper for six years now. Surely that has to take a toll on your body especially given India’s tight schedule.

Dhoni is the oldest member in this current Indian One day Squad

He is a very fit individual. You rarely see him getting injured or skipping games, but even he felt the heat when he injured his hamstring during the tri series a few months ago. Since he is set to play every single game starting from the South African tour till the IPL, the selectors should have rested Dhoni.

Ambati Rayudu would make an ideal replacement and he is present in the squad. He can keep wickets and he did make some runs in the Zimbabwe series. But it’s hard to imagine how he would get a game with Dhoni around. The selectors could have even sprung a surprise by giving a chance to young Sanju Samson who has impressed everyone in the IPL and the CLT20. He has also made a strong start in this season’s Ranji.

R.Ashwin

You expect him to be in the starting XI as the lone spinner in the upcoming overseas tours. And as the lead spinner, he will be expected to send down a lot of overs in pitches which might not assist him. Those fingers need some rest as he has played every game for India this year except the 5 one day internationals against Zimbabwe.

And at the same time, the captain and the selectors have been under some pressure over the last month or so to give some opportunities to Amit Mishra who had a great success in the IPL. He carried that form in to the Zimbabwe tour where he played as the lead spinner in the absence of Ashwin who was rested. Mishra had tremendous success picking up 18 wickets.

Even though it was against a weaker opposition, the success he achieved was too good to be ignored. He played one game against the Aussies in the recently concluded series, but was taken for plenty. But most of the bowlers went for runs in that batsman dominated series.

Ashwin would probably be the lone spinner in the line up during the overseas tests.

That is why it was important to give him these three matches and see what he can do. This would have given the selectors a better chance to know if he is India’s back up spinner in the build up to the 2015 world cup. But with both Ashwin and Jadeja around, it would be a huge surprise if Amit gets a game in the series.

Virat Kohli

India in 2013 has played 28 ODIs, 5 Tests (about to play the 6th) and one T20 international, and Virat has played in every single one of them. Just 25 years old, so people may wonder whether he should be rested. But he is India’s most precious batsman across all three formats.

He did get a break before the Australian series as his IPL franchise RCB had not qualified for the Champions League. But still you would not have wanted to take any chances with so many important tours coming up. When it comes to getting some rest, it’s now or never as the Indian players are about to play continuously for the next 6 months starting from the South African tour and culminating with the IPL.

Virat has played every single game for India in 2013.

Ajinkya Rahane would have been the ideal replacement. He played the final ODI against Zimbabwe and scored 50. And he was very impressive in the recently concluded CLT20. This should have been enough to merit a place at least in the squad as a reserve batsman. But surprisingly, the selectors have not picked a specialist reserve batsman in the 15 member squad with Rayudu being the reserve keeper/batsman.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar will carry hopes of a millions of Indian fans when he steps out to bowl against South Africa in the first test. After watching him swing the ball a mile both ways in Indian conditions, people are so excited to see what he can offer in helpful overseas conditions. With India set to play two Tests each in South Africa and New Zealand, 5 in England and 4 in Australia over the next 14 months, you expect him to feature in all of them and do well.

Right now, being the only quick who is assured of a spot in the playing XI, the selectors should have managed him better as fast bowlers tend to break down easily these days given the workload. But he stays. Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni have replaced Ishant and Vinay, but Bhuvneshwar’s presence would probably mean that at least one among Kulkarni, Mohit and Unadkat has to sit out.

Apart from these four, the rest of the squad is nicely balanced. Rohit and Dhawan have just started to settle in nicely and they would like to continue. Raina and Yuvraj are anyway not part of the test side and this series would be very crucial for them after failures against Australia.

The Indian players are set to play 3 ODIs and 2 Tests in South Africa, 5 ODIs and 2 Tests in New Zealand, the Asia cup in Bangladesh, the World T20 in Bangladesh and a minimum of 16 matches in the IPL. So it’s time the selectors realize that managing players who are regulars in all 3 forms of the game is very important as it helps them stay fit both physically and mentally.