Dilip Vengsarkar questions BCCI’s decision to rest Virat Kohli for the series against West Indies

Indian cricket legend Dilip Vengsarkar has questioned the decision to rest Virat Kohli for the upcoming tour of West Indies, saying that the star batter should play as many games as possible.

Most of the regular team members have been rested for the ODI series with Shikhar Dhawan being the stand-in captain. Most of the regulars will however be back for the T20I series, barring Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.

In the rescheduled fifth Test match, Virat managed to score just 31 runs over the two innings. In the T20I series, the ex-Indian skipper managed to register scores of 1 and 11 in the two games. After missing the first ODI due to a groin strain, Virat Kohli could only register 33 runs over the course of the two matches.

Indian cricket legend Dilip Vengsarkar has questioned the decision to rest Virat Kohli for the upcoming tour of West Indies, saying that the star batter should be playing a lot of games if he is in the plans to go to the T20 World Cup.

“I don’t understand why the Indian selectors have rested him for the West Indies series. If he is in their scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in Australia, he should play as many games as possible to get his form and confidence back. That would help him,” said Vengsarkar.

“Resting him sends a wrong signal because if he is going to Australia, then he will go without really big scores behind him. That would worry him as well. I always feel that when you are not scoring runs, it’s important to play as many matches as possible and spend time in the middle, and get back among the runs. This game is all about confidence,” said Vengsarkar.

India play West Indies in three ODIs with the first game on July 22 at Port of Spain, followed by two more games on July 24 and 27. This will be followed by a five-match T20I series.