Virat Kohli to miss India's first T20I against Afghanistan
Kohli returns home due to family emergency; Gaikwad ruled out of SA Tests
India batter Virat Kohli will not be available for selection in the first T20I against Afghanistan, confirmed coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday (January 10). Dravid made the comments at the press conference ahead of the match which is scheduled to played on January 11 in Mohali. Kohli, who made a comeback to the T20 side for the first time since 2022 World Cup, has opted out of selection due to personal reasons.
Kohli, however, would be available for selection in the next two T20Is which are scheduled to be played on January 14 and 17, confirmed Dravid. In Kohli's absence, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh both can feature in the playing XI.
Apart from Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma has also made a comeback to the shortest format since 2022 World Cup semi-final against England. Absence of key players namely Hardik Pandya (injured), Suryakumar Yadav (injured), KL Rahul (not selected), and Shreyas Iyer (not selected) may have prompted the selectors to bring back the two veterans for the T20Is.
For Afghanistan, their skipper Rashid Khanhas also been ruled out of the series as he recovers from the back injury. Ibrahim Zadran, who had led Afghans in the recently-concluded UAE T20Is, has been named the skipper for India games as well.
The home series against Afghanistan is India's last international assignment in the T20Is before the T20 World Cup in June later this year. The Indian players will then play the domestic T20 tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. Rohit plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL while Kohli has been with Royal Challengers Bangalore since inception of the league in 2008.
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Both Rohit and Kohli may have not played in the T20Is in recent times but their performance in other formats including in the ODI World Cup surely makes India as one of the favourites to win the tournament with them in the squad.
