India don't get opportunities to win in England, Australia that often: Ajit Agarkar against deliberate workload management

Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar opined no player would want to be rested despite knowing a hectic schedule lies ahead. He further added that the management also wouldn’t be keen on rotating first-team players since a chance to win a Test series in SENA countries doesn’t come often.

The five-Test series against England started on July 20 and Team India will be playing continuously till mid-November. But Ajit Agarkar emphasised that neither the team management nor the players would be in favour of experimenting, now that they are 1-0 up in the series. He believes changes should only be made if there are injury concerns.

“You want to win a Test series, win in England, Australia – these opportunities don’t come that often. You go once in four years, I know we have toured England after three years now, but generally you don’t tour these countries. And no one wants to miss Test cricket, you ask any player if they like being rotated in a Test match, I don’t think he’ll like it. IPL got suspended, otherwise you might have had a break between these two things [Test series and T20 World Cup].

“They’ll certainly have to look after themselves, but I can’t see lot of rotation. I think every player probably knows if he’s fatigued, if he’s carrying a few niggles. Then you’d have to be smart about it. But if that’s not the case, then I don’t see any reason for rotation. Sometimes you can have a chat with the individual and find out where he’s at,” Agarkar responded to Sportskeeda’s question during a media interaction organised by Sony.

The England tour ends on September 14, after which the players would directly fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to partake in the second half of IPL 2021 starting September 19. The final of the cash-rich league is pencilled in for October 15 and the T20 World Cup starts just two days later.

“I don’t think it will disturb any momentum for India” – Ajit Agarkar

Team India had their first training session at Headingley on Sunday [Credits: BCCI]

Considering the crunch schedule and the hazards of staying in bio-bubbles for prolonged periods, the eight-day break between the second and third Test would have been welcoming for the Indian cohort. They were also permitted to exit the bubble in London before travelling to Leeds on August 21.

While India were buoyant after their incredible 151-run victory at Lord’s, England were rendered with more questions than answers. However, will this gap disrupt India’s momentum and give England more time to introspect?

Ajit Agarkar doesn’t think so. But he sounded certain that India would have it easy if they manage to win the third Test starting Wednesday (August 25).

“I think they would have welcomed the rest. Yeah, to some of the guys who are sitting outside of the squad because of Covid – now there’s such a big travelling group – if they’d had some cricket, would have been ideal. But I don’t think it will disturb any momentum for India. I think they would have welcomed the break, they would be refreshed, they know having gone one up in the series, if they can play well at Leeds, it puts more pressure on England.

“If they can win at Leeds, England will find it very difficult to come back in the series. Whether it’ll help England or not, I don’t think there has been any injured player. So England are more or less the same team, and they will feel the pressure because their batting – apart from Root – just hasn’t been good enough,” Ajit Agarkar said while answering Sportskeeda’s query.

The final day in Nottingham was a washout with India just 157 runs from victory, before they deservedly made it 1-0 at the Home of Cricket. If England fail to rise above their dependency on captain Joe Root and veteran seamer James Anderson at Headingley, India would fancy a first Test series win in the UK since 2007.