The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma left the responsibility of managing the workload of the cricketers who are expected to play the World Cup to the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises during IPL 2023, starting March 31. India has been bogged down by injury concerns to key players in the World Test Championship final and World Cup year.
Rohit Sharma said it’s up to the cricketers themselves and the IPL franchises to manage the workload, adding that the Indian team management has given indications to the teams to keep the players fit and firing. Some of the biggest matchwinners for India like Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer are in danger of missing the World Cup and the World Test Championship final due to injury concerns.
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Jasprit Bumrah and Iyer were ruled out of the ODI series against Australia due to consistent injuries while Pant is staring at a long layoff after he was involved in a horrible car crash in December 2022. Some of the reports of India Today suggest that Shreyas Iyer is set to be ruled out for close to 5 months and he needs surgery to treat a persistent back injury.
After the third ODI, Rohit Sharma said, “It’s all up to the franchises now. They own them now. We have given some indications to the teams but at the end of the day, it’s up to the franchises, and more importantly, it’s up to the players. If they feel it’s getting a bit too much, they can talk about it and take a break in one or two games. I doubt if that will happen.”
Rohit’s comments come even as legendary Sunil Gavaskar questioned the absence of the Indian skipper from the first ODI against Australia in March. Rohit missed the series opener in Mumbai due to a family commitment and returned to lead the side in the last two ODIs. India won the series opener under Hardik Pandya but lost the remaining couple of ODIs in Visakhapatnam and Chennai.
Explaining the same, Sunil Gavaskar said, “When it comes to the World Cup, you can’t have a family commitment; it’s as simple as that. Maybe before that, finish everything that you have unless it’s an emergency. An emergency is something completely different.”
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India players will be involved in IPL 2023, which gets underway on March 31 in Ahmedabad. The final of the 16th edition of the tournament will be on May 28 and the final of the World Test Championship is scheduled to get underway from June 7.
