India head coach Rahul Dravid has cleared the air on the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from T20Is. The duo were not included in the series against Sri Lanka and has not been added in squad for NZ series as well. While many assumed that selectors are moving on from seniors in the shortest format, Dravid cleared that both star players have been rested.

Dravid said that they need to prioritise certain tournaments while managing the workload of senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Speaking ahead of the final ODI against New Zealand in Indore, the Indian team head coach said they are prioritizing certain tournaments like the World Test Championship and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“We need to give certain priorities to certain white-ball tournaments due to the amount of cricket that we’re playing. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the World Test Championship are very important for us. There are certain white-ball tournaments that we have to prioritize,” said Dravid.

“The priority after the T20 World Cup has been these six games and Virat has played all these six games. He will get a break, along with Rohit and a few other guys in the next week so that they come refreshed on the 2nd for a good one week camp before we play Australia. So we just have to prioritize certain formats,” Dravid added.

India has already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and will look to complete a whitewash on Tuesday.