As India prepares to take on West Indies in three ODI and five T20I matches, several senior players have been rested from the tour. While Rohit Sharma has been rested for only the ODI series and Jasprit Bumrah to recuperate from his injury, Virat Kohli has been left out of the squad altogether, without a valid reason. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has now come out in support of Kohli, whose exclusion was also previously questioned by Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.

Vengsarkar, 66, has questioned the decision to exclude Virat Kohli from the tour of West Indies saying he should be playing as many games as possible to return his form back.

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“I don’t understand why the Indian selectors have rested him for the West Indies series. If he is in their scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in Australia, he should play as many games as possible to get his form and confidence back,” he said in an interview. 

The former India captain also feels that confidence is a big part of the sport and resting him sends the wrong message to the 33-year-old ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.

“Resting him sends a wrong signal because if he is going to Australia, then he will go without really big scores behind him. That would worry him as well. I always feel that when you are not scoring runs, it’s important to play as many matches as possible and spend time in the middle, and get back among the runs. This game is all about confidence,” Vengsarkar opined.

Kohli was part of the Indian team in the T2OI and ODI series against England, however, could not score any significant runs. Former England captain Michael Vaughan suggested him to take a sabbatical, while many others argued that his spot should be vacated to give chances to others in line ahead of the T20 World Cup.

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However, India skipper Rohit Sharma rubbished the arguments and questioned Kohli’s critics during the England tour, stating the team is backing Kohli to return to form. Along with Rohit, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting had also backed Kohli to return to form, saying it was only ‘a matter of time.’

Kohli had scored 1, 11, 16 and 17 runs against England across in innings at the T20I and ODI series in July. Following his performance, the BCCI rested him in the squad for the tour of West Indies, where the Indian team are set to play three ODI and five T20I matches.