Not possible to play all formats in World Cup year: Rohit Sharma | Cricket News – Times of India

Haven’t decided to give up T20s yet, says Rohit
GUWAHATI: India captain Rohit Sharma on Monday dismissed speculation that Hardik Pandya was set to be the full-time T20I captain and that he would take a backseat in the shortest format.
“Firstly, it is not possible to play back-to-back matches. You need to give them enough break. I definitely fall in that as well. We have three T20Is against New Zealand. We will see what happens after IPL. I have not decided to give up the format,” Rohit said.
“It was made clear in the past that it’s a World Cup year for us, the 50-over World Cup, and for some of the guys, it’s not possible to play all formats. If you look at the schedule, the matches are back-to-back. So, we decided to look at players’ workload. We give them enough break and manage them,” Rohit explained.
“We have only 6 T20Is, 3 are over. We have 3 more against New Zealand. So, we will manage to look after those till the IPL and we will see what happens after the IPL.
“But certainly, I have not decided to give up the format,” Sharma added. Asked who would be his opening partner on Tuesday — between youngsters Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan — Rohit said, “Both openers have done really well. But looking at how both have gone through, I think it’s fair that we give Gill a chance to have a fair run because Gill got a lot of runs last year.

“So is Ishan, I’m not gonna take anything away from that. He has been wonderful for us, got a double hundred and I know what it takes to get a double hundred. It’s a great achievement. It is unfortunate that we won’t be able to play Ishan but, looking at how things have panned out for us in the last 8-9 months in looking at how the ODIs have gone through for us, it’s fair to give Gill that run,” he added.
Gill, opening for India last year alongside Shikhar Dhawan, scored consistently well on the West Indies, Zimbabwe and New Zealand tours. The skipper also hinted the same when asked about the selection dilemma in the middle order, where Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul will come in.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka, meanwhile, is looking at the ODI series as good preparation for the World Cup to be hosted in India.
“It’s an important tournament for all Sri Lankans because World Cup is going to be held here in India, so I’m looking forward to this series. It’s a very good preparation, the conditions will be similar. The boys know the importance of this tournament,” Shanaka said.