Rohit Sharma-led Team India has missed the services of their star batter Virat Kohli in the ongoing Test series against England. Kohli had pulled out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons. He was expected to be available at some point in the Test series but as reported by Sports Tak, he was unavailable for selection. As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 17-member Test squad for the remaining three Tests, a statement on Kohli’s unavailability was also issued.
The BCCI did not reveal the reason behind Kohli’s absence but made it clear that the board respects and supports him.
“Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons. The Board fully respects and supports Mr. Kohli’s decision,” the BCCI said in a statement.
Rumours around Kohli’s absence
During Kohli’s absence from Team India, there were a few rumours that were quashed.
Last month, Kohli's request for a break was linked to his mother's health condition. However, Kohli's brother Vikas said that these rumours are untrue.
"I have noticed that there is this fake news about our mom's health been circulating around. Let me clear that our mom is absolutely fit and fine. Also I would request everyone and also the media, not to spread such news without proper information. Thanks everyone for your concern," Vikas wrote on his Instagram story.
Also, there were rumours that Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma were expecting their second child. Kohli’s former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate and close friend AB De Villiers fell to misinformation as well. De Villiers on his YouTube channel said that Kohli is away from the Test squad for the birth of his second child. However, later, the former South Africa captain issued an apology admitting that he “made a big mistake”.
Kohli’s replacement
In Kohli’s absence, Rajat Patidar was named his replacement for the first two Test. Patidar who made his Test debut in Visakhapatnam retained his place in the squad despite scores of 32 and 9. He is likely to bat at Kohli’s position after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the series.
India’s Test squad versus England: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep
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