Team India will have to wait to get the services of ace batter Virat Kohli in the ongoing Test series against England. The former captain had pulled out of the first two Tests citing personal reasons. As the action now shifts to Rajkot, it has been learned that Kohli is unlikely to return for the third Test as well as the subsequent game in Ranchi.
As reported by Press Trust of India on Wednesday, Kohli’s chances of playing the final Test of the series in Dharamsala are also remote but the board isn’t looking that far ahead as that particular match is still a month away.
The third Test will be held in Rajkot from February 15-19, while the fourth game is in Ranchi from February 23-27.
Recently Kohli’s close friend and former South African skipper AB de Villiers had revealed on his YouTube show that the Indian batter is missing in action due to the impending arrival of his second child.
“The BCCI has time and again made it clear that when it comes to family matters, it stands firmly behind the cricketer and it will be Virat’s call when he is ready to make a comeback. As of now, it looks unlikely that he will play in the series,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by the agency.
Bumrah likely to play in Rajkot
Several media reports have stated that Jasprit Bumrah, who returned a 9-wicket match haul in Vizag, would be rested for the third game as the think tank looks to manage his workload. But the PTI report on Wednesday that the ace speedster might continue playing as the result of the Rajkot Test could go a long way in deciding the course of the series.
Rahul, Siraj likely to return
Among the imminent comebacks, KL Rahul is likely to return to the playing eleven and Rajat Patidar will then have to sit out as Shreyas Iyer, after his tremendous work in the field including a superb run-out of Ben Stokes in Visakhapatnam, will get another go.
Ravindra Jadeja’s progress has been positive and his hamstring is healing well but it might not be good enough to allow him to get cracking on his home turf in Rajkot.
Mohammed Siraj will be back after being given workload-related rest in Visakhapatnam and Mukesh Kumar is more than one hundred per cent certain to get the axe from playing eleven.
If Bumrah isn’t rested, it will be interesting to see if head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma play two pacers along with three spinners or include a batting all-rounder like Washington Sundar, who has had scores of 85 not out and 96 not out in the previous home series against the same opposition.
(With PTI Inputs)
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