Rohit Sharma speaks on the team and “load management” as they begin a run of 10 test matches starting Thursday.
Rohit Sharma and India are returning from a more than month-long hiatus from cricket. However, they are conscious of the potential impact their upcoming schedule may put on their players over the coming months.
On Thursday, India will play Bangladesh in the first of ten Test matches over the course of fifteen weeks. Plans are also in place to safeguard individuals such as Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, who may have to shoulder significant responsibilities when they travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in November through January.
“We have laid out some plans on how we are going to manage these bowlers,” Rohit said. “But again, it all depends on the workload that has been carried by them in these games. So yeah, we will monitor that. I think we have done that pretty well. Even when we played against England [at home, earlier this year], we managed to get Bumrah one Test match off. We managed to give Siraj one Test match off.
“So it all depends on how the body feels at that particular time. What the [strength and conditioning] is. And what the physios feel about them. When is the right time to give them a break from the game, and then take the call.”
After finishing the two-Test series against Bangladesh on October 1, India will take a few weeks off from red-ball cricket before playing three matches against New Zealand. After that, they’re heading to Australia, where they’ll spend eight weeks playing five Test matches.
“You want your best players to play all the games, but that’s not possible because there is so much cricket that happens,” Rohit said. “It is not only Test cricket, there is T20 cricket happening [against Bangladesh and South Africa] in the middle of the Test series as well. So you [have] got to understand everything, and then see what is best for the team and then manage your bowlers around it.”