Ravichandran Ashwin has come to Rahul Dravid's defence, explaining why not only players like him, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and K L Rahul, but also the support staff needed a break after the T20 World Cup.
Dravid was given a rest after the T20 World Cup as V V S Laxman became India's stand-in coach for the tour of New Zealand, with Hardik Pandya taking over as captain for the T20I series.
'I will explain why Laxman has gone there with a completely different team because even that could be interpreted differently. Rahul Dravid and his team put in extensive hard work ahead of the T20 World Cup, right from planning, since I saw this from close quarters, I'm saying this. They had specific in-depth plans for each venue and each opposition,' Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
'So they would have been under not only mental, but also physical burnout and everyone needed a break. As soon as the New Zealand series ends, we have the Bangladesh tour. That's why we have a different coaching staff led by Laxman for this tour,' Ashwin added.