T20 careers of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli not over: Coach Rahul Dravid

Indore: Team India Coach Rahul Dravid on Monday hinted that Rohit Sharma and Viray Kohli's T20 career is not finished by saying that they have been rested for the T20 series against New Zealand as part of workload management.

"Workload management is something that is a part and parcel of the game today. We keep reviewing these things. You will call the break we have given to some of our boys (Rohit, Virat, KL Rahul) in the T20 series as workload management," he told reporters in a press conference ahead of the third ODI against New Zealand.

Dravid said injury and workload managements are needed to ensure the availability of big players in big tournaments.

"Injury management and workload management are two different things, we have to keep balancing the two based on what the priority is for us in the short term considering the amount of cricket we play and ensuring that we have our big players available for us in the big tournaments," he said.

Dravid felt that BCCI has the right to pull players back from playing IPL if they have any issues or injury concerns.

But if the players are fit, they are released to play in the IPL because it helps them prepare for big events like the 2024 T20 World Cup, he said.

"If they are fit we do release them for the IPL because it's an important tournament. It is a very big tournament for the BCCI, in terms of our preparation for the 2024 T20 World Cup as well. It is important as it helps us assist the performances of our players in the specific T20 format," he said.

Dravid made these comments in the wake of media reports conjecturing the near end of Kohli and Rohit's T20 career. Kohli has returned to form in T20 and ODI with centuries, but Rohit and KL Rahul have not featured in a single T20 game since the T20 World Cup held in Australia.

They are set to miss the T20 series against New Zealand starting next week, but Dravid feels they should be rested before the two-week camp ahead of the Test series against Australia, starting next month. (UNI)