Virat Kohli will miss the entire ongoing five-Test series against England after he continued to excuse himself from cricket duties due to personal reasons. The BCCI announced the Indian squad on Saturday for the last three Tests against the visitors, and Kohli's ommission left some of his fans disappointed while most supported his decision to put family first.
Kohli had earlier withdrawn himself from the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vizag, with England winning the opening match and the hosts coming back to win the second to level the five-match series at 1-1 heading into the Rajkot Test, which begins February 15.
The fans of the batting icon were quick to point out that it's possibly the end of battles between England's fast bowling legend James Anderson and India's batting icon Kohli.
The 41-year-old Anderson, who is only five wickets away from becoming the first fast bowler to take 700 Test wickets, is not likely to be around when an India-England Test series next happens as per ICC's Future Tours Programme.
Interestingly, it's the first time that Kohli will miss an entire home series in his decorated career.
Here's how the fans reacted:
"Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons. The Board fully respects and supports Kohli's decision," BCCI said in a statement on Saturday.
The national selection committee has recalled senior players Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul in the squad, pending clearance from the BCCI's medical team. Both the players are nursing injuries, with Jadeja suffering from a hamstring issue and Rahul experiencing a slight right quadricep niggle.
However, the medical status of senior batter Shreyas Iyer, who has been left out of the squad due to groin and lower back stiffness, remains undisclosed by the BCCI.
India Squad for last three Tests against England: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep
