India will be without star batter Virat Kohli for remaining three Tests versus England; Kohli has already missed first two games; series level at 1-1 going into third Test in Rajkot next week - follow across Sky Sports' digital platforms with live blogs and reports
Saturday 10 February 2024 13:33, UK
India have confirmed star batter Virat Kohli will miss the remaining three Tests of their series against England.
Kohli withdrew from the first two Tests, citing personal reasons, and his absence will extend into the matches in Rajkot (February 15-19), Ranchi (February 23-27) and Dharamshala (March 7-11).
With almost 9,000 Test runs and 29 centuries banked, Kohli, who averages 56.38 on home soil against England, was a big miss in India's middle order in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, although India levelled the five-match series at 1-1 with a 106-run victory in Vizag.
A statement from the BCCI read: "Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons. The Board fully respects and supports Mr Kohli's decision."
Sky Sports Cricket's Nasser Hussain said of Kohli's absence. "It's a blow for India, a blow for the series and a blow for world cricket.
"It's going to be a special series, it already has been. The first two games have been fascinating
"Make no mistake, Virat Kohli is one of the greatest batters to ever play the game. Any series and any side would miss someone of the stature of Kohli.
"First things first, the game needs to look after the likes of Virat Kohli as well. He's been playing international cricket for more than 15 years now.
"If he needs a break to be away with family and some time away from the game, we absolutely wish him all the best.
"It means we don't have the mouth-watering possibility of a (James) Anderson vs Kohli contest like we've seen over the years but Kohli and his family and his private life have to come first.
"So it's a blow for India but, as we've seen, they've got a lot of very good young batters."
The injured duo of batter KL Rahul and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the second match, were recalled to the 17-man squad for the final three Tests but they will only play subject to fitness clearance from the medical team.
Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer was left out amid reports that he had suffered a back issue, while selectors resisted the temptation to rest in-form pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has had his share of time out due to injury last year.
Mohammed Siraj was also included in the squad after missing the last game, while fellow seamer Akash Deep earned his maiden Test call-up.
India squad for remaining Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.
Follow over-by-over text commentary from the third Test between India and England, in Rajkot, from Thursday live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App (first ball at 4am).
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