Virat Kohli is set to remain absent from the ongoing Test series between India and England. India’s batter is expected to miss the third and fourth Tests in Rajkot and Ranchi, respectively.
Doubts also persist on Kohli’s availability for the fifth Test in Dharmasala, which starts from March 7. It was on January 22, three days from the start of the England series, that the BCCI announced that Kohli had pulled out of the first two Tests for “personal reasons”.
The BCCI has not made any further comment on Kohli’s absence since that statement, which said: “Virat has spoken to Captain Rohit Sharma, the team management and the selectors and has emphasised that while representing the country has always been his top priority.”
Siraj will be back for third Test
Rajkot Test will feature the return of Mohammad Siraj to the Indian team.
The fast bowler, who had bowled 11 overs in the first Test defeat at his home ground in Hyderabad, was rested for the second Test for workload reasons.
The return of Siraj will be a boost for the bowling line-up, which relied on Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance to win the second Test. After losing the first Test – only their fourth defeat at home since the start of 2013 – India made a comeback in Vizag to level the five-Test series 1-1.
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
