Former India captain and star batter Virat Kohli has been focal point of discussion ahead of India's tour of South Africa. While there were reports that Kohli is going to skip the South Africa ODI series which is slated to start from January 19 next year, a Sports Tak source has revealed that he could play in the upcoming white-ball series.
He had apparently expressed his choice of skipping the ODIs long before the captaincy switch so it’s wrong to assume that he’s doing so because of that. In the light of all the hullabaloo, there can still be a change and Kohli’s possibility to play is still on.
Earlier, it was learnt that Kohli had cited personal reasons for his withdrawal from the series but the recent development contradicts the earlier reports.
The upcoming South Africa tour has already grabbed enough attention with the recent turn of events unfolded especially post the sacking of Virat Kohli from ODI’s captainship which paved the way for Rohit Sharma, who was appointed the new skipper of the ODI side.
Comments after sacking
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed about the change in captainship by posting a tweet. Later, board president Sourav Ganguly explained the decision saying, the team could not have had two different white-ball skippers. Ganguly even said that he and the board had urged Kohli not to relinquish T20I captaincy but the Test team skipper was determined to resign.
The ODI series will commence on January 19, 2022. The 33-year-old Indian Test skipper reportedly has some personal commitments after the conclusion of Test series. The three-match Test series is scheduled to finish on January 15, 2022.
Kohli's record
We all know the impact of mere the presence of Kohli in the Indian squad. His unprecedented records in ODIs, with 12,169 runs in his kitty which includes 43 centuries and 62 half-tons, speaks volume of his batting prowess which is undebatable. Last time he toured South Africa, the top order batter scored 558 runs from six ODI innings at an average of 186. He scored three centuries and two half-centuries during the tour with a high score of 160.
The tour is already marred by Rohit Sharma’s injury which has ruled him out of the SA Test series scheduled from December 26, 2021 to January 15, 2022. So, Virat’s unavailability will only dent India chances of dominating in the South African Tour.
