In a huge blow to India ahead of the first T20I of the three-T20I series on January 11 against Afghanistan, head coach Rahul Dravid said that Virat Kohli will not take part in the match. In the pre-match press conference, Dravid confirmed that Kohli will be unavailable for the series opener due to ‘personal reasons’.
In Kohli's absence, skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings against Ibrahim Zadran-led side at PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
Kohli made a comeback to the side after more than a year. Neither Rohit nor Kohli have not played a single T20I since India’s 10-wicket defeat in the semi-final of T20 World Cup 2022 against England.
Dravid also quashed media reports making rounds that disciplinary action has been taken against Kishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. Dravid said that Kishan has not made himself available for selection after taking a break.
"No absolutely not (disciplinary issue). Ishan Kishan was not available for selection. Ishan requested for a break, which we agreed in South Africa. We supported it. He has not yet made himself available. I don't think he has made himself available as yet. When he is available, he will play domestic cricket and make himself available for selection," Dravid said.
He also clarified that Iyer has not been rested but dropped from the T20I side.
“Certainly, in Shreyas Iyer's case, there is absolutely no disciplinary reason for his non-inclusion. It's just that he missed out. There were a lot of batters in the team. Shreyas missed out, he didn't play the T20Is in South Africa, if you noticed. They are a lot of batters and it's not easy to fit everyone. So, absolutely, there is no disciplinary reasons at all. At least I didn't discuss such things with the selectors," he added.
While this will be the final T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 in June, Dravid has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will play a key role in the final squad selection for the mega event.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
Afghanistan Squad: Ibrahim Zadran (c), Hazratullah Zazai, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmat Shah, Karim Janat, Mohammad Saleem, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Qais Ahmad, Naveen-ul-haq, Fareed Ahmad, and Noor Ahmad.
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