BCCI selection committee has already announced replacements for injured all-rounder Ravindra Jadaja and batter KL Rahul for the second Tests against England. The selection committee is likely to sit and finalise the roster for the remaining three Tests on Tuesday.
The team is expected to be more or less likely same. However, there is still question mark over the return of star batsman Virat Kohli. Virat had withdrawn from the first two Tests in the ongoing series against England due to personal reasons.
But, there hasn’t been an update on his return yet. The talismanic batter seems to be going through a rough personal phase that has kept him away from social media as well. Whether he returns for the last three matches of the series or not, would be interesting to see.
Meanwhile, in a shocking news to Kohli’s fans, quoting a BCCI source, a post on a social media platform has gone viral which states that Kohli will not play Test cricket anymore.
Though the reality behind the post is still in doubt, several fans have been heartbroken over the development.
Whenever a batter of Kohli’s calibre is not available, it is a big blow to any team. Kohli’s Test debut came on June 20, 2011 against West Indies in Kingston where he scored 4 & 15, as India won the match by 63 runs. Including that match, India have played 127 Tests since then, with Kohli taking part in 113 of them, missing 14.
After the debut series in West Indies, Kohli was part of India’s squad for the 2011 tour of England, but did not play a single match as India lost 4-0. He also sat out the next series, West Indies’ tour of India. It means that he missed six Tests in a row.
However, Kohli next missed a Test match in 2017, as India defeated Australia in Dharamsala by eight wickets in his absence and since then has only missed a game or two, in large part due to personal reasons or workload management. The result of the last Test match against England marked the first time ever that India at lost a Test match at home without him.