India’s coach Rahul Dravid defended his decision to leave out two important players from the team that lost the second ODI against the West Indies on Saturday in Barbados.
The Asian team rested captain Rohit Sharma and veteran batsman Virat Kohli for the 50-over match, but the decision backfired as the Caribbean team cruised to a six-wicket victory that leveled the series at 1-1 before the final match in Tarouba.
Dravid explained his decision to select peripheral players such as Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav to reporters after the thumping defeat, stating that it was essential for him to evaluate them in advance of the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup later this year.
“This was the last chance we had to try out some of our players,” Dravid said.
“We have got a few of our players who are injured who are in the NCA (National Cricket Academy).
“With a month to go until the 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 the Asia Cup and the World Cup, but we can’t take those chances.
“We have to try out other people and give other people chances so in a worst-case scenario at least they have game time behind them and it gives us an opportunity to make some decisions on players
“In a series like this with only two or three matches to go, playing Rohit and Virat would not have given us too many answers.
“With the injuries we have in the NCA and some uncertainty surrounding them, we wanted to give some of the other boys a chance so if required they can play.”
While Kishan impressed at the top of the order with another half-century, Samson (9) and Suryakumar (24) squandered golden opportunities to push their case for inclusion in Dravid’s squad for the home World Cup later this year as India were bowled out for just 181 on a difficult batting pitch in Bridgetown.
“We knew it was a tricky wicket and not an easy wicket to bat on and we knew we needed to get 230 or 240 and we felt that would have been a very good and competitive score,” Dravid added.
“We lost wickets in bunches after Shubman (Gill) and Ishan gave us a good start.
“But we needed someone to bat until the end and we lost wickets in the middle and were 50 or 60 runs short.”
While Dravid desires to win every match and series India competes in, he is aware that what lies ahead is sometimes of greater significance.
“We will always look at the bigger picture,” Dravid noted.
“At this stage of the cycle with the Asia Cup and World Cup coming up, because of the injuries we have, we have to look at the bigger picture.
“We can’t get worried about every single game and every single series and if we do that I think it will be a mistake.”
