KL Rahul-led Team India will square off against Zimbabwe in the three-match ODI series, beginning August 18 in Harare. The senior pros like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Yuzvendra Chahal have all been rested for the series against Zimbabwe. Deepak Chahar, who missed most of the cricket action this year due to injury, has been named in the squad and it would be interesting to see how he performs in the upcoming series.
In a conversation with NDTV, former India spinner Maninder Singh spoke about the upcoming series, Virat Kohli being rested for the three ODIs and Deepak Chahar’s comeback into the side.
“Yeah, it has been a pretty long break and he (Deepak Chahar) has had an injury. It is not very easy to comeback into international cricket where you have had such a long break because of injury. He would need to be handled with care to start with but I am sure, the team management would know when to use him and when not to use him. He is a talented kid but it is not going to be easy to come back after such a long injury,” Maninder told NDTV.
When asked about Virat Kohli being rested for the series, the former left-arm spinner said: “I am sure there must have been a communication between the selectors and Virat Kohli. He is such a fantastic player, such a great player. If he needed more break, then he would have communicated to the selectors. I had heard during the IPL that he was batting for hours in the nets but sometimes what happens is when you are not in form and you keep trying too hard, you keep making mistakes. And I think some of the great cricketers have said that he needs break, Virat Kohli must have realised that I need to get away from the game for 3-4 months, and comeback rejuvenated.”
“As far as mental strength is concerned, which is the most important ingredient when you are playing international cricket, there is no doubt that Virat Kohli is mentally very strong, physically very fit. It is a matter of one innings, if he has communicated to the selectors that he needs more break, then we should respect that,” he added.
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Maninder also spoke about how Zimbabwe would be confident heading into the series on the back of good performance against Bangladesh after defeating them in ODI and T20I series.
“I would still say on paper, that the Indian team is a lot better than Zimbabwe. After beating Bangladesh, Zimbabwe’s confidence must be really high. The attitude of the Zimbabwe team has changed, there is no doubt about that and they will give competition to India, but I still my favourites would be India,” said Maninder about the series which will be broadcast on the Sony Sports Network.
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