IND vs AFG: Virat Kohli To Miss 1st T20I Against Afghanistan
New Delhi: Former India captain Virat Kohli will miss the 1st T20I against Afghanistan which will be played on January 11 at Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium/ Mohali Stadium (The Punjab Cricket Association Ajitgarh) in Mohali. India head coach Rahul Dravid revealed on Wednesday ahead of the first clash.
Kohli has not played a T20I match since the 2022 T20 World Cup which was played in Australia. However, Kohli will be available for the next two matches against Afghanistan. The modern-day great will miss the first T20I citing personal reasons.
There were reports earlier that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will open the innings for India against Afghanistan but now in the absence of Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings with India captain.
India’s head coach revealed that while India would only play one T20I series before the T20 World Cup in 2024, the success of players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will factor into the team selection for the tournament.
Dravid went up to clarify why Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were not selected for the T20 International series against Afghanistan.
The head coach stated that Kishan had sought a vacation owing to mental tiredness during the South Africa tour, and the team management agreed to accommodate him. Dravid acknowledged that Kishan has not made himself available for selection since then and would return to domestic cricket when he is ready.
“No, absolutely not (disciplinary issue). Ishan Kishan was not available for selection. Ishan requested a break, which we agreed on in South Africa. We supported it. He has not yet made himself available. I don’t think he has made himself available as yet. When he is available, he will play domestic cricket and make himself available for selection,” Dravid told the reporters in the pre-series press conference.
Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson took up the wicketkeeper duties after KL Rahul was not named into the squad.
The Afghanistan series is India’s last bilateral T20I series before the T20 World Cup, which starts on June 1. Rohit will lead the side in the T20Is while Afghanistan will be led by Ibrahim Zadran, with Rashid Khan ruled out of the series as he recovers after his ankle surgery.
India’s Squad for three T20Is against Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar.