Top players will prioritise ODIs this year, says head coach Dravid

Amid the ongoing series against New Zealand, India men's cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid said that the top players in the squad would primarily focus on ODIs since 2023 is a 'World Cup year'.

Ahead of the 3rd ODI between the two sides, Dravid also said that cricketers who are in the scheme of things for the ODI World Cup will compete in the IPL unless there are injury concerns and workload of seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are being managed as one white-ball format takes precedence over the other.

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According to BCCI’s new policy, the workloads of key players will be monitored during this year’s IPL by the NCA and the franchisees considering the 50-over World Cup at home in October-November.

“Workload management is something that is a part and parcel of the game today. We keep reviewing these things. You will call the break we have given to some of our boys (Rohit, Virat, KL) in the T20 series as workload management,” he said.

“Injury management and workload management are two different things, we have to keep balancing the two based on what the priority is for us in the short term considering the amount of cricket we play and ensuring that we have our big players available for us in the big tournaments.”

He added that "targeted" players for the ODI World Cup will be playing the IPL as it will help them assess their T20 skills.

The 13th edition of the World Cup is scheduled to be hosted by India during October and November 2023.

(With PTI inputs)