Accoridng to the latest reports of Times of India, Indian Test skipper, Virat Kohli will be missing the forthcoming ODI series against South Africa. Kohli, who is a part of India’s Test squad for the tour of South Africa, is reportedly informed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of his decision. The BCCI’s recent decision of sacking Kohli from ODI captaincy and announcing Rohit Sharma as his replacement had created plenty of chatter.
While Kohli himself is yet to give an official reaction to the development, his decision to skip the 3-match ODI series against the Proteas reportedly does not have anything to do with the change in captaincy. TOI reported that Kohli wants to take off for spending time with his daughter on her first birthday. Vamika was born on January 11 last year, and the India Test skipper is said to be planning a holiday with his family after the conclusion of the Test series.
ALSO READ: India to host Afghanistan in March 2022; ACB confirms
The final Test of the tour will be played from Jan 11 to 15. The ODI series will be commencing on January 19. There has been some dramatic turn of events in Indian cricket as on Monday, Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the entire Test series due to a hamstring injury. The Hitman, however, is expected to attain complete fitness for the ODI series. Now, it looks like Kohli has made himself unavailable for the important ODI assignment in the Rainbow nation.
Moreover, a BCCI official has gone on to clarify the matter, he said, “Virat Kohli has informed us that he will not be available for the ODI series – he wants to spend time with family as he was in playing for many months with IPL, T20 WC – don’t read social media rumours, there is nothing between Rohit & Kohli.”
The change in India’s ODI captaincy had shaken the Indian cricketing fraternity up to some extent. More than the role change that took place, it was the manner in which the responsibility was taken away from Kohli and handed to Rohit that rose eyebrows.
In a single tweet, the BCCI announced that Rohit will now be leading India in limited-overs cricket. Neither a statement from the BCCI explaining the change nor a reaction from the board president, Sourav Ganguly, departing skipper Kohli, or even the newly-appointed captain Rohit was present.
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma To Miss The Test Series In South Africa, Doubtful For ODIs
It was only a couple of days later that the bCCI president explained the change, saying the team couldn’t have had two different white-ball skippers. Dada even said that he had urged Kohli not to resign from T20I captaincy but the talismanic batter had no intention of continuing.
