Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar believes that the Rohit Sharma-led side should be playing their strongest team six to eight months ahead of a major tournament like the upcoming ODI World Cup. In India’s six-wicket loss to West Indies in the second ODI at Kensington Oval, they rested veterans like captain Rohit Sharma and talismanic batter Virat Kohli, giving game time to Sanju Samson and Axar Patel in another round of experiments.
But Samson and Axar couldn’t make the chance count, scoring only nine and one respectively as India suffered a batting collapse to be all out for 181. In reply, West Indies chased down the target with 80 balls to spare to level the series 1-1 and set up a series decider at Port of Spain on Tuesday.