Kohli’s absence continues as India superstar to miss remaining three England Tests

Star batsman Virat Kohli’s absence from the India squad for undisclosed “personal reasons” will extend to the remaining three Tests against England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said Saturday.

“Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons,” the board said in a statement.

“The Board fully respects and supports Mr. Kohli’s decision.”

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While the reason behind Kohli’s absence hasn’t officially been revealed, South African cricket legend AB de Villiers said last week on a Q&A on his YouTube Channel that Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma were expecting their second child.

“All I know is he is fine,” de Villiers said.

“He is spending a bit of time with his family, that is the reason he is missing the first two Test matches. I am not going to confirm anything else. I cannot wait to see him back. He is fine, he is doing well.

“So I wrote to him ‘Been wanting to check in with you (sic) for a while now Biscuits. How are you?’. He said ‘Just need to be with my family right now. I am doing well’.

“Yes, his second child is on the way. Yes, it’s family time and things are important to him.

“If you are not true and genuine to yourself, you lose track of what you are here for — what are we doing on Earth, what are we here for.

“I think most people’s priority is family. You can’t judge Virat for that. Yes, we miss him. But he has made absolutely the right decision.”

India beat England by 106 runs in the second Test in Visakhapatnam to level the five-match series 1-1, which is finely poised ahead of the third Test in Rajkot, beginning on February 15.

Kohli, who amassed 765 runs in 11 ODI World Cup matches for runners-up India last year, missed the white-ball leg of the South African tour in 2023 and the opening T20 match against Afghanistan at home earlier this year.

The 35-year-old remains the backbone of India’s batting with 8,848 runs including 29 centuries and an average of over 49 in 113 Tests.

Top order batsman Shreyas Iyer was another notable absence from the 17-man squad named for the remainder of the series by the board on Saturday.

Iyer, who was in the XI for the first two Tests but struggled to find his form in any of his four innings, had back surgery for a slipped disc last year.

ESPNCricinfo reported he had told team management that he suffered a flare-up of back spasms after the second Test in Visakhapatnam this month.

Ravindra Jadeja and K.L. Rahul were both included but their participation was “subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team”, the board said.

England, led by Ben Stokes, won the opener to hand the hosts just their fourth loss at home since 2013 but Rohit Sharma’s team bounced back in the next match with a 106-run victory.

INDIA SQUAD:

Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, K.L. Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), K.S. Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.