No rest for King Kohli? Captain may opt to travel to West Indies, Bumrah likely to get breather

Most of Team India's players have made themselves available for the full tour of West Indies which is set to begin early next month.

While MS Dhoni is said to be keeping himself unavailable and is headed to his army unit for two months, Jasprit Bumrah has been asked to take rest, according to Times of India report. Hardik Pandya is also said to be suffering from back issues.

However, among the reports of Kohli being rested for the Caribbean tour, it is learnt that the skipper and vice-captain Rohit Sharma may be present to play the three T20Is, three ODIs and two Test matches.

Kohli had a break between IPL and World Cup due to Royal Challenger's Bangalore (RCB) being eliminated early. Kohli said he is not inclined to take any more breathers since India do not have many long tours like they had in 2018, according to the TOI source.

Rohit's break, on the other hand, came when he rushed back to Mumbai in between the Australia tour during the birth of his daughter.

According to sources quoted by TOI, Bumrah who bowled for all of Mumbai Indian's matches and even for Team India at the recently concluded World Cup will be given rest but the pacer has "no intention" of missing the Test matches.

As for Hardik, the all-rounder had suffered some back problem during Mumbai Indians campaign and has been in continuous pain. He could be rested for the entire series.

About the other players, there is no word yet regarding Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar.

“There’s no word yet on Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar (who had to leave the World Cup midway due to injuries). The chief selector may have an idea because he’s been following this up. Let’s see, we’ll have a better idea tomorrow on how they're recovering," the source told TOI.

Team divided:

The source also told TOI that the team management and senior players are “pretty miffed” at rumours around a rift within the squad. 

“Absolute nonsense is being pedalled, like 'there’s a rift in the team, there’s trouble brewing', whatnot. It’s really uncalled for. Which cricketer wishes away another cricketer? Only one who’s never played the game. The World Cup ended and someone wanted a new headline. It’s disappointing how some people twist and turn things to suit their interests,” the sources said.