Prolific Indian batter Virat Kohli was not spotted on the team’s arrival in Trinidad, which led to speculation about his participation in the deciding final ODI game against West Indies on Tuesday. The 34-year-old did not have the chance to bat in the 1st ODI and was rested for the 2nd ODI in Barbados, where India lost the game by six wickets.
Virat Kohli was rested alongside Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for the second ODI against West Indies, as the Indian team management is trying to find potential players, who can make it into the India squad for the ODI World Cup later this year, as they are trying out new things against the Men in Maroon in three-match ODI series.
According to the various reports in social media, It was widely speculated that Virat Kohli will not be part of the Indian team for the final game, as he would be returning home before the completion of the ODI series as India will be trying to continue their experimentation going into the final game of the series.
But a report in IANS has confirmed that Virat Kohli will be available for the final game against the Shai Hope-led side in Brian Lara Stadium as India would be tempted to bring in their senior pros for the series decider against the Windies.
Earlier, Speaking to the media, Rahul Dravid revealed that these games help to make some decisions on the player’s selection for the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup and reckons that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma playing these games are not as important as others playing the series.
“It also gives us the opportunity to make some decisions on players. Honestly in a series like this with 2-3 matches to go before the Asia Cup, playing Kohli and Rohit would have not given us any answers.
“But with the injuries we have in the NCA and some uncertainty around them we just wanted to give others a chance,” Rahul Dravid added.
It will be interesting to see which team comes up at the top at the final ODI to win the series as this series win would be a good morale boost for India going into the Asia Cup 2023 whereas West Indies looks for this opportunity to win the series and bring some confidence into the team after failing to qualify for the ODI World Cup later this series.