T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli remains the only missing face as Indian players undergo training

Virat Kohli remains the only member of the Indian T20 World Cup squad not to have reached New Yorkahead of the first warm-up match versus Bangladeshon June 1 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. BCCI is yet to provide any update on his travel status but it appears that Kohli will miss the match and directly play in the first league contest against Ireland on June 4.

While Kohli is yet to jet off for the USA, most of the Indian players had their first training session on Tuesday (May 28).Soham Desai, the team's strength and conditioning coach revealed that the players were being accessed initially, having been away for two months on Indian Premier League (IPL) duty. They would be eased back into training slowly.

"They have been away for two-and-a-half months from us [the national team setup]. Just getting them together to know where they stand, what needs to be done before the World Cup was the goal," Desai said in a video released by BCCI.

"[The] goal is to spend 45 minutes to an hour there on the park to again get going.We want to see them move. We want to see them run so that we can put enough plans in place for each guy to be ready for the first game."

India's leader of the bowling lineup, Jasprit Bumrah, looked in happy spirits despite a disappointing campaign with the Mumbai Indians.

"We've not yet played cricket. We've come here for a team activity today.Hopefully, it will be good. The weather is really good. So looking forward," said Bumrah.

Kohli taking a break?

Earlier, a report in The Indian Express had claimed that Kohli had sought a 'mini-break' from BCCI after the end of IPL.

“Kohli had informed us way beforehand that he will be joining the team late and that is why theBCCI has kept his visa appointment for a later date,"a BCCI official was quoted as saying by the publication.

Kohli finished the IPL as the Orange Cap holder with 741 runs, which included a century and five fifties. However, his team lost in an agonising manner to Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator, forcing the batter to take an extended break.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Siraj and Shubman Gill departed for the US in the first batch. Head coach Rahul Dravid, whose tenure expires after the marquee tournament, also took the flight, alongside his backroom staff.

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan

(With inputs from agencies)