Rahul Dravid opens up on Rohit Sharma's absence in South Africa series

Ahead of the five-match T20I series against South Africa, Rahul Dravid addressed the media on the 7th of June. The Indian head coach stressed the need of regulating the workload of all-format players like Rohit Sharma in the run-up to the 20-20 World Cup later this year. Dravid stated that communication between him, the selectors, and the players are quite clear. He believes it is critical that players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah peak at the right moment in key events.

Major players including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested for the South Africa series. All of them will be available for India's next assignment in England. The tour of England begins on the 1st of July with the rescheduled Test match from last year.

"It's not difficult at all. We (Rohit and I) are in touch. (KL) Rahul has captained before, we are clear on a lot of things. Rohit is one of our all-format players and it is unrealistic to expect all (all format players) to be available for every series," Dravid said when asked about Rohit Sharma's absence in the South Africa series.

"With the kind of busy schedule, we have to understand there are times we need to rest our big players. We won't be able to field our strongest team all the time. It gives youngsters opportunities and increases the depth of our squad and gives us an opportunity to assess how good they are," he added.

The former Indian cricketer also informed that other players will also be rested over the next six months. "It is a balance between managing the workload of some of the players, especially who have been a part of all three formats of the game for us in the last six months. We will do that over the next six months. It is important to manage people through a very busy calendar," he said.