Rahul Dravid plays down Virat Kohli's rest rumours

Indian junior and 'A' team coach Rahul Dravid dismissed reports of Virat Kohli being denied rest during the Test series against Sri Lanka next month, saying all such news is nothing but a 'needless controversy'.

When quizzed if Kohli needs a mini break as he has been playing continuously in nearly all formats of the game from last one year in the national capital, Dravid said, "Everyone needs rest. Virat Kohli will get rest when he wants. I don't know why there is so much of discussion and controversy."

Speaking at a felicitation programme for women cricketers, he said, "Rotations are needed. There are a lot of matches being played, so you need to rotate the players. I think the management is taking right decision."

The former Indian captain also maintained a positive stance on the introduction of the nine-team Test championship and a 13-team One-Day International league.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had earlier approved the curtailed version of the Test cricket on a trial basis in a recently held board meeting in Auckland.

The sport's governing body has also given nod to a nine-team two-year Test series, which will begin in 2019.

A 13 team one-day league will start in 2020 and can be used as eligibility criteria for the ICC Cricket World Cup.

"I think having the context to especially ODI cricket and series is really important and sometimes in tri-series and bilateral series it can get a bit difficult to generate that level of context," Dravid said.

He further said, "But if you are having that sort of context towards a particular end goal in mind then surely something good can come out of it. If it creates that level of interest and context in bilateral series it will be a good thing."

Dravid, who retired from the short format cricket in 2012, is the current Overseas Batting Consultant for the Indian team and also the head coach for the Under-19 and 'A' teams.

Talking about his experience in coaching the junior Indian team, the 44-year-old said, "I have really enjoyed coaching since the past two years and it has been a great learning experience."

However, Dravid believed that the Under-19 cricket players remained under a lot of pressure and he is trying to create a team with the good environment where the best out of the players could be drawn.

-ANI