New Delhi, India

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to announce India's squad for the remaining three Tests versus England in the coming days. After the first two Tests, the series is interestingly poised at 1-1 with all to play for in the final three games. All eyes are on Virat Kohli's availability, injured trio of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj's return.

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While there has been news around Jadeja, Siraj and Rahul's return, there are wide speculations that Kohli will miss the next two Tests as well or the entire series. The former Indian captain had marked himself unavailable ahead of the series due to personal reasons and nothing is known regarding his comeback. Now, former English captain-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain opened up on Kohli's likely absence from the entire series and feels it is a 'big blow for India and world cricket' if the star player misses out.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Hussain said, "Yeah, well, nothing's confirmed at the moment. There's speculation, whether it's the next two Test matches, they're going to announce their side in the next few hours. Whether it's the next three Test matches, so nothing's confirmed, but it will be a blow.

“It'll be a blow for India. It'll be a blow for the series. It'll be a blow for world cricket. It's going to be a special series. It already has been. The first two games have been fascinating."

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Also read: Ind vs Eng: Root lauds Rohit and Kohli, says visitors eager to keep them quiet in the series

'We don't have the mouthwatering possibility of an Anderson-Kohli contest, but family comes first'

In addition, Hussain lauded Kohli and stated that he deserves time away from the game having served his nation for more than one and a half decades with aplomb. The Englishman opined, "And make no mistake, Kohli is one of the greatest batters to ever play the game and any series and any side would miss someone of the stature of Kohli. But first things first, and the game needs to look after the likes of Kohli as well. He's been playing international cricket for more than 15 years now, and if he needs a break to be away with family, just some time away from the game."

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He added, "We wish Kohli all the best. It means we don't have the mouthwatering possibility of an Anderson-Kohli contest like we've seen over the years, so be it. But you know, Kohli and his family and his private life have to come first. So it's a blow for India. But as we've seen, they've got a lot of very good young batters and again speculating, KL Rahul, who was injured for the last game and has played brilliantly in the last few months for India in all formats, will come back in, so he'll add to their batting."

India's squad for the remaining three Tests should be out before the end of this week. The third Test kicks off on Feb 15 in Rajkot.