We have to take those risks: Rahul Dravid on resting Rohit and Virat

IND vs WI 2nd ODI 2023 India head coach Rahul Dravid defended his decision to rest Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the second ODI against West Indies and said that the team will have to try out other players ahead of ODI World Cup 2023 He added that the team was not worried about every single game and single seriesThe Indian team managements decision to rest regular skipper Rohit and star batter Virat Kohli badly backfired as the visitors were bowled out for 181 in 405 overs The home team chased down the target with 80 balls to spare for an easy sixwicket victory to level the threematch ODI series 11We will always look at the bigger picture At this stage in the cycle the Asia Cup and World Cup coming up we have to look at the bigger picture because of some of the injuries we have We cant get worried about every single game every single series if we do that it will be a mistake Dravid said after the matchTo give people chances Virat and Rohit sat out We have to take those risks we might have to take those chances in situations like that looking at big events We want to give them young players as many chances we possibly canDravid emphasied that with some players injured and recovering at the National Cricket Academy NCA in Bengaluru it was imperative for the management to give chances to other team members ahead of the Asia Cup August 30September 17 and the World Cup OctoberNovemberHonestly this was our last chance to try out some of our players We have got few of our players injured who are in NCA With a month to go until Asia Cup we are running out of time in a lot of ways We are hopeful that some of them injured players will be fit for Asia Cup and World Cup but we cant take those chancesWith the injuries we have and some uncertainty surrounding them we have to try out other people and give them chances so in a worstcase scenario so that at least they have game time behind them and so if required they can play It gives us an opportunity to make some decisions on playersJasprit Bumrah Rishabh Pant KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are currently recovering from injuriesAlso Read Rohit Sharma hopeful of Jasprit Bumrahs return before 2023 ODI World CupThe former India batting stalwart said the move to rest Rohit and Kohli was to create enough bench strength which can be used in necessityWe just felt that in a series like this with two three matches to go for the Asia Cup playing Virat and Rohit would not have given us too many answersWe need to build some of the players we need get some answers for specific positions considering some of the situations we are in said DravidHe said he is least bothered about criticism and opinions of people outsideWe are not too much worried about the opinion of people Its just that these are the talented boys we have in the country They have all performed and its up to them to take the opportunities5060 runs shortDravid believes the pitch was not easy for batting and they were 5060 runs short of what could have been a winning score in the second ODIWe are little disappointed we knew it was a tricky wicket not an easy wicket to bat on We needed to get somewhere near to 230240 that would have been a very good and competitive scoreBut we kept losing wickets in bunches We got a really good start Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan really batted well to give us a good start but we needed somebody to carry on somebody to bat till the end We lost wickets in the middle and probably we are 5060 runs shortAlso Read India vs West Indies 2023 Is Yashasvi Jaiswal the next cricket sensationSuryakumar is learning about ODI cricketDravid feels Suryakumar Yadav must be disappointed with his performances in ODI cricket given the standard he has set in T20 formatSurya is a really good player there is no doubt about it his performances have shown that in T20 cricket and even in domestic cricket in white ball He would be the first one to admit his ODI numbers probably havent been up to his high standards or the standard that he has set in T20He is learning about ODI cricket He is learning how to bat through the middle overs He is a talent a really good player so we want to give as many opportunities we can Its really up to him now to take those opportunities In the kind of set up we are we would like to give people as many chances we can he saidPraise for Shubman and IshanDravid is mighty impressed with Shubman and Ishans performances and termed the former as a vital cog of the team in all three formats of the gameI wont worry so much about Shubman He is batting really well he looks really good It can happen you cant criticise people after every single game These things can happen its not easy batting conditions We needed to grind and fight it out there Shubman is an important part of all the three formats now he saidIshan has done really well This is third fifty in a row now counting the Test matches He is taking the opportunities when he is given the chance Thats all we ask from young playersWith PTI inputs