Rohit Sharma's unapologetic five-word statement on 'workload management' during IPL 2023: 'Franchises own them...'

Team India faced a rare ODI series defeat at home on Wednesday, as the side endured a 1-2 loss to Australia; it was the side's first home series defeat in the format since 2019. Wit the series tied at 1-1, Australia put their best foot forward as they scored a competitive score of 269, and then bowled the hosts out on 248 with five balls remaining in the match. Following the defeat, India captain Rohit Sharma spoke in detail about the side's disappointing outing in the ODIs, and also addressed the workload management concerns ahead of the Indian Premier League.

The Indian players have a packed calendar ahead with a two-month long IPL, followed by the World Test Championship final in June. The year also sees the ODI World Cup at home, and players' fitness remains of paramount importance. When Rohit was asked whether there will be workload management in focus during the IPL, however, the Indian captain had a rather blunt response.

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Rohit stated that while the Indian team management has “indicated” its concerns over players' fitness, the final decision on resting the India stars rests with the franchises.

“It's all up to the franchises now. Franchises own them. We have given indications, some kind of borderline thing to teams, but at the end of the day, it's up to the franchise,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference following the match on Wednesday.

“And most importantly, the players. They have to take care of their own body, they're all adults. They have to look after their body, if they feel it's getting a little too much, they can talk about it and have a break for one or two games."

However, Rohit ended his response with a rather straightforward five-word remark. “I doubt that will happen, though,” said Rohit.

Addressing multiple injury concerns in the team (while Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant remain unavailable, Shreyas Iyer was also ruled out of the ODI series), Rohit said that it does get difficult to not have first-team players.

“It is concerning, if players aren't available. You're missing players who are in playing XI. Honestly, everyone's trying their best. We've been focussing on management of players. We have to rest certain players for certain point of time. We could do our best in terms of handling them. I'm no specialist to tell you about recurring injuries. The medical team is looking into all of this and making sure that in the World Cup, we have our best 15 players ready,” said Rohit.