After Shreyas Iyer’s unavailability for the last three tests in England’s India tour 2024, Virat Kohli has informed BCCI that he is withdrawing from the remaining tests on Friday.
Virat Kohli withdraws from England Tests
During the series’ start, Virat Kohli told Rohit Sharma, team management, and selectors that Playing for the country is his top priority and he was withdrawing from the tests due to a family emergency.
After leveling the series with one victory each, the Indian side awaits the third match. With BCCI set to announce the squad for the third test, Virat Kohli met online to decide the squad for Tests.
BCCI Jay Shah informed, “The BCCI respects his decision and the Board and team management has extended its support to the star batter and is confident in the abilities of the remaining squad members to step up and deliver commendable performances in the Test series.”
This is the first time Kohli was not part of the home series. BCCI has postponed the meeting due to Ravindra Jadeja‘s fitness status. Initially, the meeting was slated to be held on Thursday. It was then postponed to Friday but did not happen as per plan. Hence, the selectors have decided to meet on Saturday.
The postponement of the meeting in the first place is due to the workload of Bumrah and the fitness status of Jadeja and KL Rahul. After discussing with the BCCI medical team, the management has come to a unanimous decision about playing Bumrah in the third test.
Meanwhile, NCA has declared that KL Rahul is fit to play in the upcoming test. He was sidelined during the second test due to a quadriceps injury. Now, the only concern is Jadeja who is expected to take place in the squad.
Jadeja was also ruled out of the second test due to a Hamstring injury during the second innings of the first test. Since then he has been in NCA to regain fitness. Despite making improvements in his fitness, he would still require a few more days to be fully fit.
The all-rounder’s availability is very crucial to the squad, due to which the selectors are awaiting the final reports on the fitness of the player before announcing the squad.
With five days left before the Rajkot Test, the selectors might include Jadeja in the squad subject to fitness clearance.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer likely to miss the remaining three tests has been suffering from a back and groin injury.
Hence Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan both will get a chance in the squad. After securing one victory each India and England will be playing their third match on February 15 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
