Kohli’s comfort can test Team India in the World Cup, know why?

New Delhi. The World Cup is only 15 days away. Before this, Team India will play a three-match ODI series against Australia from September 22 with the intention of finalizing their preparations. Two teams have been selected for this series, yes you heard that right, match three and team two. The senior players of the team like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli have been rested from the first two ODIs. At the same time, Hardik Pandya will also not play in the first two matches. Questions are being raised on resting Kohli. Why was he rested against a strong team like Australia even though he didn’t play much cricket? Let’s understand how resting Kohli can affect Team India’s World Cup hopes.

Kohli has been rested under workload management but has not batted in three of the last 7 ODIs. There were different reasons for this. It means he didn’t play much cricket. It is natural to raise questions about giving comfort in such a situation. India have played 48 ODIs in the last two years. Among them, Kohli appeared in 29 matches and was dismissed in 19 matches. That means he has not played more than 40 percent of ODIs. In his long ODI career of 14-15 years, he has never missed so many matches in 2 years. That too, before a tournament like the World Cup, he never rested in such matches. In such a situation a question arises. Resting Virat could do damage and affect India’s World Cup campaign.

Ahead of the World Cup, Kohli couldn’t have had a better opportunity than the Australia series to test his preparations. But Kohli will not be able to play the first two ODIs against Australia. While all the important players of Australia are coming for this series. Had Kohli played especially against their fast bowlers, his preparation for the World Cup would have been stronger and a big innings or two would have been enough to boost the confidence of players like Virat.

Kohli practices in Indian conditions
Kohli last played an ODI in India in March. After this he did not play a single ODI at home. The last time he played was against Australia at home. After that he could score only one half-century. Indian team has also lost 3 ODI series. Mitchell Starc troubled him a lot. In such a situation, he has a chance to make up for his shortcomings in the ODI series starting on September 22.

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There is no better warm-up match than the Australia series

Anyway, Kohli is a very fit player. In his 15-year-long career, there have been very few occasions when he has been injured due to workload and has had to miss a major tournament. In such a situation, if he had played the entire series against Australia and scored runs, it would have been important for him and India’s World Cup campaign. As India has to play two warm-up matches before the World Cup, there will be a big difference between playing a two-match match against Australia and playing a practice match.

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Tags: India vs Australia, Virat Kohli, World Cup 2023