"In no way it means that bilateral T20Is aren't important" - Paras Mhambrey on Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli resting for series against SA

Team India's bowling coach Paras Mhambrey claimed that senior Indian players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli resting from the white-ball leg of the South African tour didn't mean that the visitors were taking the series lightly.

Mhambrey shed light on how the seniors in the Indian team know their role and how their rest allows the youngsters to show what they are made of, especially in pressure situations.

Speaking to PTI, here's what Paras Mhambrey had to say about taking a new-look Indian team in the T20Is:

"(Rohit Virat resting) in no way it means that bilateral T20Is aren't important. All I'm saying is that there is a balance that every player must maintain. Also it depends on who we are talking about. Players like Rohit, Virat look at very specific areas in their T20 games be it IPL or India. One would like to watch younger players during bilaterals and examine and understand areas of their adaptability — game awareness, pressure situations, how they adapt to these varied situations the Indian jersey carries."

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Paras Mhambrey on whether young bowlers want to play shorter formats

Paras Mhambrey also believes it is largely a false narrative that young budding Indian bowlers want to prioritize white ball cricket over Test cricket. He feels that barring few exceptions, majority of the young generation wants to earn the Indian Test cap.

On this, he stated:

"I would never say people don't want to play red-ball cricket. Even now if you ask any aspiring fast bowler or spinner what is the format you want to excel in, he will always pick Test cricket first. Yes, obviously, there will be some bowlers, who would choose the white ball format. They would have probably played all formats and then decided that their game and skill-sets suit the white ball format more. Now that will be a very individual call and no one can do anything about it."

India's tour of South Africa will kickstart with the T20I series with the first game to be played at Kingsmead, Durban on Sunday, December 10.