Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant Rested For 3rd T20I Against West Indies And Most Likely For Sri Lanka T20Is

Feb 19, 2022 at 12:44 PM

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Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant Rested For 3rd T20I Against West Indies And Most Likely For Sri Lanka T20Is
Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant have been given a short break following India’s T20I series win over West Indies in Kolkata with one game remaining. Both are likely to also rest for the upcoming three T20Is against Sri Lanka starting February 24 in Lucknow, the squad for which is expected to be named over the weekend.
Both players left the Indian camp in Kolkata early on Saturday, after India won by eight runs on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Virat Kohli was India’s early enforcer, making 52, while Man of the Match Rishabh Pant lent the finishing touches with finisher Venkatesh Iyer in a blistering 76-run stand off just 35 balls. Rishabh Pant also scored 52 in fewer balls (28) than Virat Kohli.
Rishabh Pant (Photo Source: Disney+Hotstar VIP)
Rishabh Pant (Photo Source: Disney+Hotstar VIP)

Virat Kohli And Rishabh Pant Rested For Final Inconsequential T20I To Ensure All Format Regulars Are Give Breaks Periodically

The decision to rest Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant is part of a policy that is being put in to ensure the all-format regulars are given breaks periodically. Rishabh Pant’s absence could allow some game time for one of Shreyas Iyer or Ruturaj Gaikwad, who have had to sit out of the T20Is so far owing to team combination. Ishan Kishan is expected to take over the wicketkeeping duties.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s break at this juncture, in particular, is to ensure he is fresh for the two-Test series that follows the T20Is against Sri Lanka. He is currently on 99 Tests and is set to play his 100th in Mohali on March 4. He had earlier missed the Johannesburg Test in South Africa due to back spasms.

Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell | BCCI
Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell | BCCI
Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant hit the fifties while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel produced superb bowling in slog overs as India survived some anxious moments before walking out with an eight-run win over West Indies in the second T20I that handed them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Kolkata on Friday.
Chasing a stiff 187, wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran (62 off 41 balls) and Rovman Powell (68 not out from 36 balls) hit belligerent fifties to keep them in the hunt as they needed just 29 runs from the last two overs.

Virat Kohli Rested For

Virat Kohli has for long underlined the need to ensure player workloads and mental health are factored in as teams move from one bubble to another. Last year, he had spoken of the need for administrators to reconsider the length of tours to make bio-bubble life sustainable.
“These things will have to be considered,” he had said. “Like what length of the tournament or series one is going to play and what impact it will have on players mentally to stay in a similar environment for 80 days and not do anything different. Or have space to just go and see family or small things like that.”
“These things have to be thought about seriously. At the end of the day, you want the players to be in the best state mentally, based on how they’re feeling. Those conversations should take place regularly.”
Virat Kohli | Photo Credit: AP
Virat Kohli | Photo Credit: AP
Virat Kohli was earlier rested from the New Zealand T20Is and the first Test in November following a long four-month stretch that began with the tour of England and ended with the 2021 T20I World Cup in October-November, with the second instalment of the IPL 2021 in UAE thrown in between.
The 2022 IPL is also set to begin 11 days after the scheduled end of the second Test against Sri Lanka on March 16 in Bengaluru.

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