India skipper Rohit Sharma and fellow batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have been rested for India's tour of New Zealand where Hardik Pandya will lead the T20 squad while Shikhar Dhawan will be in charge for the one-day internationals.
The entire coaching staff, including head coach Rahul Dravid, has also been given a break after the T20 World Cup.
However, Shastri is not in favour of coaches taking breaks.
"I don’t believe in breaks. Because, I want to understand my teams and player and then be in control of the team.”
"What do you need that many breaks for? You get 2-3 months of break during the IPL that's enough to rest. I feel coach should be hands on."
No substitute to genuine pace, opportunity for Umran to learn
Both Zaheer Khan and Shastri feel that the tour of New Zealand is a great opportunity for pace sensation Umran Malik.
"Umran has been an exciting talent and this kind of exposure will help him. It's about how he takes things forward and how quickly he understands that this stage is going to be crucial if he wants to grab that spot in the playing XI and cement his place," Zaheer said.
"He's one of the fastest bowlers in India and you saw what happened in the World Cup, genuine pace rattled opposition whether it was Haris Rauf or Naseem Shah, Anrich Nortje," Shastri added.
"There is no substitute to genuine pace even while defending small scores. It's an opportunity for him and hopefully he will learn from this experience."
India's tour of New Zealand will be aired on Prime Video.
