Virat Kohli ‘flies to Mumbai’ after ‘personal emergency’ ahead of India’s World Cup warmup match against the Netherlands
INDIAN cricketer Virat Kohli has flown back to Mumbai after a ‘personal emergency’ ahead of India’s World Cup warm-up match against the Netherlands.
He reportedly took a flight from Guwahati soon after rain washed out India’s first practice game with defending champions England.
According to Cricbuzz, BCCI has confirmed Kohli was not a part of the Indian squad that flew to Thiruvananthapuram for their upcoming warm-up match against the Dutch players on Tuesday.
The Indian cricketing board revealed Kohli went back to Mumbai due to a personal emergency, but will join the team back soon.
Kohli remains the most important player for the men in blue ahead of their journey in the World Cup.
While India’s practice knock with the Netherlands is not of much importance, the cricketing legend would still want to rain some shots and get some practice ahead of the big tournament.
Details about Virat’s personal emergency are still foggy.
However, speculations suggest Virat went back to Mumbai to meet his wife Anushka Sharma.
Hindustan Times recently reported the ace cricketer and the Bollywood star are expecting their second child.
Reportedly, Virat and Anushka were spotted at a maternity clinic in Mumbai a few weeks ago.
They requested paparazzi not to click pictures and promised a “special announcement” soon.
Anushka, who regularly travels with Kohli and attends matches, has not been seen by his side for some time fuelling rumours.
Virat married Anushka in 2017 in the “Indian wedding of the year”.
The star couple had their first daughter in 2021 and ever since, have been particular about not showing her face in public or online.
Virat has not enjoyed the best phase of his cricketing career in the last three years.
However, fixtures in 2023 saw him return to his magical form.
The star batter has been scoring runs once again and has played some wonderful innings in Asia Cup 2023, where the men in blue lifted the winning cup.
The ICC World Cup 2023 could be the perfect stage for Kohli to showcase his legendary comeback in International cricket.
The talismanic batter could go on to cement his palace in history by breaking a few more all-time records in the upcoming World Cup fixtures.
Most recently, Kohli became the fifth-quickest batter to reach 13,000 runs in One Day International cricket while playing his knock against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023.
Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, and S Jayasuriya are the only ones before him to reach the milestone.