Virat Kohli, a star player from India, won’t play the first two Tests in the five-game series against England starting in Hyderabad on Thursday.
He withdrew a few days ahead of the series for personal matters. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) made this news public and pleaded for understanding for Kohli’s privacy and dedication to India’s cricket from fans and the press.
“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, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention. The BCCI respects his decision and the Board and team management has extended its support to the star batter and is confident in the abilities of the remaining squad members to step up and deliver commendable performances in the Test series.”
BCCI Official
Although the squad will lose a “phenomenal” player like Virat Kohli, coach Rahul Dravid stated that it is an opportunity for others to stand up.
Who took Virat Kohli’s spot in India’s team?
Rajat Patidar, a batter from Madhya Pradesh, was added by India to replace Virat Kohli in the first two Test matches. The young player will still have to wait a little while to make his Test debut, though, since India chose to choose keeper-batter KS Bharat in the starting lineup for the opening match.
Bharat, a solid player from Andhra Pradesh, has competed in five Tests representing India. He made a total of 129 runs, averaging 18.42 runs per game. He’s also impressively scored over 5,000 runs in first-class matches. This was achieved across 94 games, with an average of 37.10.
Previous reports said that because Bharat is a better wicketkeeper than KL Rahul against spinners, the squad has long wanted to incorporate him. That would have meant that Rahul and Shreyas Iyer would have been tied for fifth place.
But the squad continued to use both of them without Virat Kohli. KL Rahul would probably bat at number four, followed by Shreyas and Bharat at numbers five and six, respectively.