ICC World Cup 2019: Kohli Asks Media To Give The Players The Freedom To Decide Their Workload

IPL 2019 ended with a blast as Mumbai Indians became the eventual champion of the 12th edition of IPL. Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by 1 run in a thriller final. As the IPL gets completed, the cricketing world shifts its focus to the ICC World Cup 2019. The ICC World Cup 2029  is scheduled to start from 30th May 2019.

As the players prepare for the ICC World Cup 2019, it will be interesting to see how the workload is managed for the World Cup-bound Indian players as most of them featured in almost all the matches in IPL. Before the start of the IPL 2019, workload management of players participating at the ICC World Cup 2019 was more important than anything else for skipper Virat Kohli. But a report suggests that most of the players ended playing all the matches in IPL 2019.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav played 14 games. Vijay Shankar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played 15 games. Shikhar Dhawan along with Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah played 16. MS Dhoni played 15 games. Kuldeep Yadav was the only player to play less than 10 games due to a bad form.

Fortunately, the main players of India did not have a serious injury in this long course of the event. Only Kedar Jadhav had been ruled out of IPL 2019 due to a shoulder injury. However, he is likely to participate in the ICC World Cup 2019. Unlike India, South African players are experiencing with injuries with Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada struggling to get fit for the ICC World Cup 2019.

Before the start of the IPL 2019, Virat Kohli expected the players to be smart about their workload management, keeping the ICC World Cup 2019 in mind. He said, “If I’m able to play 10, 12 or 15 games, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the other guy can only play that many. My body might demand I play a certain number of games. I need to be smart about that and rest.” 

The Skipper added that fitness is an individual thing and it is different from player to player. He further added, “Someone else’s body might be more capable than mine or less, that is a very individual thing. And everyone wants to play the World Cup. So people will be smart about it because you don’t want to miss out on such a big event. 

Virat Kohli also reminded the players to have a good frame of mind before the ICC World Cup 2019. He said, “From a responsibility point of view, all the Indian players will have the responsibility during the IPL. They have to keep a watch on their fitness and their workloads. And to continue the frame of mind we have created in the Indian team – strive towards excellence and improve every day. Each player will take this tournament as an opportunity to go to the World Cup in a good frame of mind.”

While Rohit Sharma, Vice-Captain of India suggested that IPL can help the players to stay in touch with the game. “Anyone who plays the IPL and goes to a big tournament like ICC World Cup 2019, I feel it keeps them very much in touch with their game. It is a great tournament to hit form in. Hardik is one example.”

India is scheduled to start its campaign for the ICC World Cup 2019 against South Africa, on June 5.