India’s star batter Virat Kohli will miss the remaining three tests of their five-match home series with England for personal reasons, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Saturday.
Kohli withdrew from the first two Tests, also for personal reasons. The BCCI said in a statement that it fully respected and supported the former captain’s decision.
The 35-year-old former captain, who has notched up nearly 9,000 runs in 113 Tests, will miss an entire home series for the first time in his career.
England won the first Test by 28 runs in Hyderabad before the hosts levelled the series at 1-1 with a 106-run win at Visakhapatnam this week.
The third Test is scheduled to take place in Rajkot from Thursday, with matches to follow at Ranchi and Dharamsala.
The injured duo of batter KL Rahul and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the second match, have made a comeback to the 17-man squad announced by the BCCI for the final three Tests. They will only play subject to fitness clearance from the medical team.
Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has not been selected amid reports that he had suffered a back problem, while selectors resisted the temptation to rest speedster Jasprit Bumrah, who has had his share of time out due to injury last year.
Mohammed Siraj was also included in the squad after sitting out the last game, while fellow pacer Akash Deep earned his maiden Test call-up.
India squad:
Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.
- Virat Kohli