Virat Kohli was not part of the first batch of players from India's T20 World Cup squad who departed for USA on Sunday and it's now being reported in the media that submission of his paperwork for the visa has been postponed because of a short planned break that the Indian batting legend had requested for after the IPL.
Quoting a BCCI source, The Indian Express has reported that the board accordingly planned Kohli's visa appointment. However, some other media reports had earlier suggested an unexpected delay in paperwork.
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Kohli is now expected to fly out to New York on the morning of May 30th and in all probability will miss India's warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1.
Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid led the group that has departed first. Batting coach Vikram Rathour, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, along with travelling reserves Shubman Gill and Khaleel Ahmed, were also spotted at the Mumbai airport.
Also missing from the group was team's vice-captain Hardik Pandya, who is reportedly in London and will fly to the US from there.
It remains to be seen if Hardik can join the squad in time for the warm-up match against Bangladesh.
Kohli finished the IPL as the season's top-scorer with 741 runs in 15 innings, which helped RCB qualify for the playoffs. But they lost to Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator to bow out of the tournament.
Hardik had a forgettable season as the captain of Mumbai Indians, who finished last among the 10 teams and won only four of their 14 matches.
The T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by the US and West Indies from June 2 t0 29.
India, who are grouped with Pakistan, Ireland, USA and Canada, will open their campaign against the Irish team on June 5 in New York, followed by the big game against archrivals Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.
