Asia Cup 2018: Why resting Virat Kohli for Asia Cup is not right

Virat Kohli was rested for the Asia Cup and was not included in the squad. In his absence, the captaincy is handed over to Rohit Sharma. Now, Rohit Sharma will have to lead the side to defend their Asia Cup title.Some might argue that it was best to rest Virat for the Asia Cup as youngsters like KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, will get a chance to perform and showcase their talent. Players like Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Raydu and Kedar Jadhav will get more overs to bat and confirm their middle order position in the side before the world cup next year.Virat and company had a long tour of England which started in late June and will get over on 11th September. India plays their first match in the Asia cup on 18th September so there will be a gap of just seven days for the players to rest and recharge their batteries. But in my personal opinion, there are some reasons which suggest that it was not the right time to rest Virat Kohli. Let us look at them.1) India are heavily dependent on Virat KohliVirat Kohli is currently the best player in ODIs and India are heavily dependent on him. Of late, India's top order has done the bulk of the scoring and with Virat rested there will be more pressure now on the openers to provide stable starts. Rohit and Shikhar will not only have to provide an anchoring start but one of them will be needed to play long innings with the middle order.India's middle order has not been very consistent and has fallen apart on many occasions. India's batting will be tested against Pakistan's quality bowling attack as they'll be missing their biggest batting stalwart.It will be a challenge for team India to show that they are not dependent on Virat and can win big tournaments without him. If they manage to win the tournament, it will be a big confidence booster for the side before the Australian tour and the World Cup next year.

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