The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 16-member squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against the West Indies. However, what came as a shock to a section of Indian supporters was that both regular captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli were rested from the 50-over games against the Caribbean side.

Notably, Rohit Sharma was rested from last month's T20I series against South Africa and missed the recently-concluded Test against England owing to a positive COVID-19 Test. Virat Kohli too was absent from the five games against the Proteas but took part in the final Test against the Three Lions.

Apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya have also been given a break from the series against the West Indies.

Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan was appointed as the captain for the series while talismanic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been named as his deputy.

Shikhar Dhawan wasn't included in the squad for the T20I series against England but will be a part of the three ODI games against the Jos Buttler-led side.

Coming back to Ravindra Jadeja, the Saurashtra player made a scintillating ton in the Test against Edgbaston and is a key player for India in the ODIs. That's why the BCCI has anointed him as the vice-captain against the West Indies.

But it was BCCI's announcement to “rest” Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the One-Day Internationals against the West Indies that didn't go down well with former India pacer Irfan Pathan who slammed the national selectors for giving them rest way too often.

At this moment, Indian fans too chimed in, criticizing the Indian board's decision, and questioning the logic behind giving another break to the celebrated duo, especially when the T20 World Cup in Australia is just months away.

What's more both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have struggled for runs for a while now.

Virat Kohli's batting issues have been well documented for some time as the Delhi-born cricketer has not scored a hundred since November 2019. He has been without a century in international cricket for nearly a thousand days and had a horror show in the Indian Premier League too.

Though Virat Kohli did well in the warm-up game ahead of the Test match against England at Edgbaston, he failed to replicate that form in the five-day fixture as he got on scores of 11 and 20 in Birmingham.

Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, had not played an international match since March and had an ordinary IPL going by his standards as he averaged less than 20 in the 14 games he played in the cash-rich league.

And Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's lack of runs from the bat is being touted as the reason behind Irfan Pathan and Indian cricket's admirers' fury towards the Indian selectors.

“Why is Virat rested? And Rohit? How much cricket have they even played. Virat barely spends 20 mins at the crease. Windies series could have been his chance to regain his form and confidence. Their lack of game time will again show in Asia Cup and World Cup later this year,” a fan wrote on Twitter questioning BCCI's decision to rest two superstars.

“No Rohit, Kohli, KL Rahul, Shami, Bumrah, Bhuvi & Pandya… Resting a couple of games is okay. Why so much of juggling of players and captaincy in every other series. Is it rest or is it some politics going on in the management,” another asked.

“Since Rohit appointed as skipper, Rest has become topmost priority. Captain with his extraordinary health care service,” a third said taking a swipe at the Indian skipper.

“Is he the captain for all formats or BCCI will choose captains based on their whims and fancies? Why are senior players rested after just 1 series? Is this the way we will build a winning team?” a fourth commented.

“Again they are rested??? Too much rest can have impact on their form & rhythm ultimately affecting their performance in the match,” a fifth opined.

“Disappointed to not See Rohit Sharma missing ODIs.. He already has rested for SA T20s at home and by chance got rest in 1 off test too.. But it's amusing to see he still wants to miss WI ODI series.. He should have set better example being the All Format Captain!” a sixth remarked.

“Rohit and Virat are becoming “Dadaji ka Hukkah” these days in Indian team, Useless but you can't throw them out because of emotions,” a seventh added.

“Resting all main players and expecting them to perform for the upcoming major tournaments. BCCI is pushing Indian team to another group stage exit. Only 3 months for the T20 WC. Enough of this new fancy shit,” an eighth argued.

India's ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh