Key players to be rested for Zimbabwe tour.

The Indian cricket team is likely to rest some of their key senior players for the Zimbabwe tour. According to reports, due to a tight cricket schedule, ODI captain MS Dhoni, ace batsman Virat Kohli and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin might be rested.

“Dhoni has had a lot of workload since the Australia tour followed by the World Cup and a gruelling IPL. Ashwin and Kohli are also playing both the formats continuously. These three require rest. A fresh Kohli and Ashwin are a must for the Sri Lanka Tests which will be a very tough assignment,” said a BCCI source.

If both Dhoni and Kohli are rested, then the captaincy might be handed to either Suresh Raina or Rohit Sharma. It will be interesting to see who leads the young side sans the big names for the Zimbabwe tour. Also, provided that Ashwin is rested too, it opens up the gates for Harbhajan Singh and Parvez Rasool.

Robin Uthappa and Wriddhiman Saha too may be recalled to take up the responsibility of keeping the wickets. Both of them have had a good domestic season and will look to cement their position into the Indian team.

The tour of Zimbabwe commences on July 10 and consists of three ODIs and two T20s. The squad is supposed to be announced today and one can expect a few surprises in the selection.