Skipper unsure if players will rest during IPL to manage workload

CHENNAI: The India team’s growing injury list, which includes pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, is “concerning”, but skipper Rohit Sharma has doubts about whether any player would opt out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches to manage workload.

Rohit on Wednesday said that the onus is on the players themselves and the IPL franchises to manage workload ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final (in June) and the ICC 50-over World Cup (in October-November).

The two-month long IPL will be hosted in various cities from March 31, when defending champion Gujarat Titans will face Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad.

“It (the injury list) is concerning. We are missing the players who are actually members of the playing eleven,” Rohit said at the end of the India-Australia ODI series. “They (the players) are all adults. So, they have to look after their body. If they feel that it is getting a little too much, they can always talk about it and have a break in one or two games. I doubt (if) that will happen but...,” Rohit added.

“...it is all up to the franchises now. The franchises own them (the players) now, so we have given some indications or some kind of borderline kind of thing to the teams. At the end of the day, it is up to the franchise. Most importantly, it is the players, they have to take care of their own body,” said Rohit.