'I doubt that will happen': Rohit Sharma makes honest admission ahead of IPL 2023

Team India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on the team’s struggles with injured players in the recent past, following the conclusion of India vs Australia, three-match ODI series. The captain said that it is the responsibility of the franchises to manage the workload of key Indian players during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The Indian Test team will face Australia in the ICC World Test Championship final in England from June 7 onwards, over a week after the IPL 2023 concludes.

While Sharma said it’s up to the franchises to keep the players safe, he faced heat on the Internet for his comments as cricket fans felt the WTC final and the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 should be the priority for India. “I mean, 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. But at the end of the day, it is up to the franchise and, most importantly it is the players you know, they have to take care of their own body,” Rohit Sharma said.

"How do you expect players to perform well in WTC final?"

Meanwhile, reacting to the captain’s comments, a Twitter user said, “The priority must be #WTCFinal & #ODIWC2023 later this year especially when team India's batting has been struggling for quite some time now across formats. A few key players like #RishabhPant & #jaspritbumrah are missing due to injuries already. #IPL2023”.

“After 2 months of intense cricket, travelling, training... how do u expect players to perform well in WTC FINAL?? Most of the aus test players like pat cummins, starc, smith, labuschagne, head, carey, lyon, khawaja not even playing IPL.. and they will be fresh for the clash,” another fan tweeted

Rohit Sharma doubts players will miss IPL matches

While the ICC WTC final takes place in June, the 50-over World Cup will be held in India from October-November this year. In the meantime, India is currently dealing with several top cricketers who feature in the long list of injuries. Star wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant is ruled out for the year due to his horrific car accident in December 2022.

At the same time, Jasprit Bumrah is also ruled out of the IPL 2023 due to an injury he suffered in September last year. On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer recently suffered an injury during the fourth Test against Australia and is said to be out for the first half of IPL 2023. Further shedding his thoughts on players avoiding injuries, the captain said he doubts if the franchise give breaks to players in one or two games.

“They [players] are all adults. So they have to look after their body and just 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.