Team India batter Virat Kohli is set to miss the first T20I against Afghanistan, confirmed the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday, January 10. The three-match series is set to kick off on Thursday, January 11 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
Virat Kohli is making his return to the Indian T20I setup after a long period. He last played a T20I for India in the semi-final of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup against England. India lost the match and was knocked out of the tournament. With the 2024 T20 World Cup in sight, he has been recalled to the Indian T20I setup. However, the veteran batter will be missing the first T20I on return.
Virat Kohli will join the Indian team in Indore for the second T20I. Ahead of the series, Rahul Dravid confirmed to the press about Virat Kohli’s absence. Rohit Sharma too wasn’t present for the training session. However, Dravid maintained that the Indian skipper will be opening the innings alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.
JUST IN: Virat Kohli to miss the first T20I against Afghanistan due to personal reasons.#INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/NvXgJgR4Mo
— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) January 10, 2024
Rashid Khan to miss the T20I series against India
Afghanistan spin maestro Rashid Khan will miss the three-match T20I series against India. Skipper Ibrahim Zadran confirmed it to the press on the eve of the first T20I in Mohali. Rashid Khan underwent back surgery recently and is yet to recover. However, he is travelling with the team for the series.
“He is not totally fit, but he is travelling with us. He is doing his rehab, and we are hoping that he gets fit as soon as possible. We will miss him in this series,” Zadran said at the press conference.
India’s squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli (unavailable for first T20I), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
Afghanistan squad: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib
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