“Virat Kohli wasn’t going to play that game. The team management was aware of his plan and schedule, and it isn’t something that happened overnight or due to a family emergency. Look at the player in question, it’s Virat Kohli. He is very well planned when it comes to these things and his London trip was communicated and planned well in advance,” a BCCI official told news platform News18.

As per the official, Virat Kohli participated in the training sessions before leaving for London and is all set to play his first Test match against South Africa. “Kohli left India for South Africa on December 15. Had good 3-4 training sessions before he went to London on December 19. For the next few days, he was in London and has now linked up with the Test squad and will in all likelihood train in Centurion tomorrow,” the official added.

Time to create history

Virat Kohli’s return will provide India with much-needed confidence as they look to create history by clinching a Test series in South Africa. During the South Africa series, Team India saw multiple exits like pacer Deepak Chahar, who pulled out due to a family emergency, Mohammed Shami couldn’t recover in time from his ankle injury and young batter Ishan Kishan reportedly requested some time off from cricket.

India’s young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was also injured during the 2nd ODI against South Africa and is released from the Test squad.

The year 2023 has brought mixed results for Team India as we won the Asia Cup 2023 but lost the World Cup trophy in the finals against Australia. The fans will hope that India wins the Test series in South Africa and start the year 2024 with a historic milestone.

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Published: 24 Dec 2023, 02:40 PM IST