After the end of a mega Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 show in UAE, Team India will be flying to Australia, which starts with a 3-match ODI series from November 27. Virat Kohli and his men will be leaving for Australia and will undergo a 14-day quarantine period in Sydney where they will be also be training for their upcoming matches.
On Monday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a revised squad for the ODI, T20I, and Test series’ in Australia after receiving injury reports and updates from the BCCI Medical Team. The highlight of BCCI’s latest team update for the Australia tour was the absence of skipper Virat Kohli from the last 3 Test matches of the 4-match Test series.
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Confirming the same, BCCI informed, “At the selection committee meeting held on October 26th, 2020, Mr. Virat Kohli had informed the BCCI about his plans to return to India after the first Test in Adelaide. The BCCI has granted paternity leave to the Indian captain. He will return after the first Test against Australia in Adelaide.”
Kohli’s absence will be a big blow for Team India as they will be aiming to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it will also leave the fans in Australia disheartened. Virat’s love-hate relationship with the Australian public is known to generate the interest of the next level amongst the fans. But Cricket Australia interim Chief Executive Nick Hockley has backed Virat Kohli’s decision to take paternity leave and said that the board always knew that the swashbuckling batsman’s unavailability was quite expected.
As per the reports of the Australian radio station SEN, Nick Hickley said, “I think when the pregnancy was announced it was always on the cards and we have to respect the fact he wants to be there for the birth of his first child.”
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Further, Hockley added that CA was also exploring options to increase crowd capacities in the stadiums for the upcoming blockbuster series between the two giants of the game. He also asserted that safety is the first priority for them.
