India’s newly appointed head coach Rahul Dravid reckons that workload management is an important aspect of cricket.
Dravid’s first assignment as the head coach will start from Wednesday when India will take on New Zealand starting on Wednesday.
“Workload management is an important aspect of cricket, given the amount of cricket we are playing. We see that in football as well, when big players don’t play every match in long seasons. If we play all around the year, we have to manage their workload, be it be inside the team or by giving them a break. The mental and physical well-being of players will be a big priority,” said Dravid in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“We need to do a balancing act at a time like this and work towards getting everyone fit and ready for the big tournaments. It’s not only us who’s doing that. If you see Kane Williamson, who is not playing this T20I series, every country is recognising the importance of these things. Everyone is doing that. It is not only us who are facing this challenge,” added Dravid.
Apart from workload management, Dravid mentioned about paying attention to the mental and physical health of the players while insisting that playing separate teams for different formats is not on cards.
“They are a very good team, well-planned, well-led and well-prepared. They have beaten India recently in big tournaments but therein lies a really good opportunity for us to keep improving and keep getting better. Hopefully, if we get an opportunity in a big tournament next time, we will put one over them.”
Rohit Sharma will lead the T20I side following Virat Kohli relinquishing the skipper duties in the shortest format post T20 World Cup.
