Batting maestro Virat Kohli was scheduled to play his 100th Test match at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru in February. But, it may not be possible for Kohli to play at his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) home ground as it may be shifted to North India due to rising Covid-19 cases in the city.
Sri Lanka's tour of India is scheduled to start on February 25. Earlier, the visitors were expected the first and second Test in Bengaluru and Mohali respectively followed by three T20Is.
“There is still time to take call on Sri Lanka tour. If the Covid situation doesn't improve in the city, the venues may be shifted. BCCI's Plan B is for the series is to keep it in the northern belt as option with Dharamsala, Mohali and Delhi, because team can cover the venues by road," the source told Sports Tak.
“The call on the same will be taken next month. BCCI monitoring the situation closely and by February they will have a clear picture and will take call accordingly,” the source added.
During the three-Test series against South Africa, Kohli could not play the second Test match in Johannesburg. He was ruled out of the Test due to upper back spasm and KL Rahul made his Test captaincy debut as he was the vice-captain in the series in absence of Rohit Sharma. Had Kohli played the second Test, the third Test in Cape Town could have been his 100th Test.
The 33-year-old stepped down as India’s Test captain after the series defeat to South Africa. Kohli finished as India’s most successful skipper. With 40 wins in 68 Tests, under Kohli's leadership India went onto become no.1 in Test rankings. Under Kohli India won Test series in Sri Lanka and in Australia. India are also leading 2-1 in England. The last Test against the three lions was called off after a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. The decider will be played in 2022.
The series against Sri Lanka will be Kohli’s first Test series not as India’s Test captain in seven years.
