Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli should have rested: Ashish Nehra slams Gautam Gambhir for not trying out ‘new players’

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Colombo: India�s captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli before the first ODI cricket match of a series between India and Sri Lanka, at R Premadasa International Stadium, in Colombo, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) (PTI08_02_2024_000155A)(PTI)

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Team India are in a tough situation during the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka after tying the first match while losing the second clash by a margin of 32 runs. Notably, the defeat comes at a time when Men in Blue were high on confidence with the whitewash in T20I series and the comeback of skipper Rohit Sharma and veteran batter Virat Kohli.

With the Men in Blue now in a dire situation needing to win the 3rd ODI match in order to save face, questions have started to be raised about the new approach taken by the team after Gautam Gambhir took over as the new head coach. After the tied 1st encounter, social media users had questioned the need for giving the ball to Shubman Gill who gave away 14 runs in 1 over during a low scoring game.

Ahead of the start of 2nd encounter, even Gambhir’s former teammate, Ashish Nehra raised questions about the new coach’s need to bring back Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back for the ODI series given that he knows both these players really well and has shared the dressing room with them in the past. Nehra’s contention was that Rohit and Virat’s place could have been better utilized by giving the chance to a younger player instead.

Speaking to Sony Sports prior to the match, Nehra said, “The next series India play is 2-3 months later, a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli…I feel there was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players during this series.”

 “I know Gambhir is a new coach, and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it isn’t like he doesn’t know the two of them. He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit. So it was a good opportunity for him to try out the new players, and Rohit and Kohli could play when the home season begins. I’m not saying it is a wrong approach, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series,” Nehra added