Indian batting stars Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are likely to be rested for the upcoming limited overs tour to Zimbabwe.India will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) from June 11.

Kohli, who has not missed a single match (except the short T20 series against Sri Lanka series) since the start of the home series against South Africa last October, has played four Tests, 10 ODIs, 15 T20 Internationals apart from the ongoing IPL.

With India scheduled to play 17 tests in the coming six months, Kohli needs a deserving break to get ready for the grueling next season.

“It is more or less certain that both Virat and Rohit will be rested for series against Zimbabwe. They have been playing non-stop cricket for the last six months and are required to be fresh before India embarks on their tour to West Indies. The chances of Shikhar Dhawan going for the Zimbabwe tour are also very less,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying by the PTI.

However, there has been no confirmation on Indian captain MS Dhoni’ availability for the short tour but if he misses this tour he might not have anything to play in 2016 as there are not any limited-overs matches scheduled from July to December, as of now.

In MS Dhoni’s absence, Ajinkya Rahane is expected to lead a second-string squad while KL, who is performing brilliantly with the bat in this IPL, is expected to take the wicket-keeping role. Krunal Pandya is also in the reckoning for a spot in the national team after his brilliant all-round display in the on-going IPL.

Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma -both coming back from injuries are expected to share the new ball while Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra could be the two frontline spinners along with Ravindra Jadeja.