Langer said Australia need to keep their players fit and fresh ahead of busy 2019, which includes a World Cup and an Ashes tour and hinted that Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood may be rested in the ODI series against India ahead of the two Tests against Sri Lanka
Melbourne: Australia are set to rest their fast bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the three-ODI series against India in a bid to manage their workload ahead of a busy international calendar.
Cummins was Australia's top performer with both ball and bat in the just-concluded Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and coach Justin Langer insisted that it's a great selection "conundrum" for the hosts for the ODI series which begins in Sydney on January 12.
Langer said Australia need to keep their players fit and fresh ahead of busy 2019, which includes a World Cup and an Ashes tour and hinted that Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood may be rested in the ODI series against India ahead of the two Tests against Sri Lanka.
"It's the great conundrum for us, really, how we manage our bowlers. For example, we might not play them in the next three one-dayers so they're ready for the next two (Tests) to keep them fresh," Langer was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
"He (Cummins) has been brilliant, he's been outstanding but then - as soon as we do that they want to play and also then everyone else would be on our back saying: 'Why aren't they playing every single game?' But if you play every game - we've also got a World Cup and Ashes next year - we want him fresh for those things."
Cummins, who has been Australia's best fast bowler in the first three Tests against India with 14 wickets at an average of 20.07, had earlier missed the ODI series in England and the two Tests against Pakistan in the UAE owing to injuries.
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