If Not For The 14-Day Quarantine Rule Virat Kohli Would Have Returned For The Last Test Against Australia: Ravi Shastri

Head coach of the Indian team, Ravi Shastri has revealed that if there was no 14-day isolation rule in Australia, captain Virat Kohli would have been available to play the last Test match of the series.

Australia will host India for six white-ball games and four Test matches. The 3-match ODI series commences on 27th November followed by 3 T20Is. The much-awaited Border-Gavaskar series will begin on 17th December with a day-night Test in Adelaide followed by the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, New Year’s Test in Sydney, and the last Test match in Australia’s fortress, Brisbane.

Virat Kohli will miss out on the last three Test matches as he will return to India to attend the birth of his first child. He has been granted paternity leave by the BCCI and will lead the side in the ODIs, T20Is, and the first Test in Adelaide. Ajinkya Rahane is likely to captain the team in the last three games.

Virat is the only Asian captain to win a Test series in Australia: Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri said opined that Kohli is not someone who would skip any game for his country unless it is a necessary reason. Shastri supports the decision of the captain to miss the last three Tests as he understands that the birth of a first child is a special moment for any to-be parent. The coach believes that Kohli would have been back in time for the last Test. However, adhering to the covid protocols in Australia, he would have to be in isolation for 14 days.

While speaking to Sportstar, Ravi Shastri said, “It is a once-in-a-lifetime moment and I am with him. He is not the one to miss a game if there was not a compelling reason. But for this bloody quarantine he would have returned for the last Test.”

The 58-year-old opines that it is not easy to go another 14-day quarantine period for anyone. He also attacked people who criticized Kohli to miss 3 matches by pointing out that the right-hander is the only Asian captain to defeat Australia, at home and in Australia in a Test series.

“To go through another 14-day period of isolation would be tough for anyone. I must tell our fans and critics that Virat is the only Asian captain, dead or alive, to have won a series against Australia at home and away from home. That is the trigger for the team to remember and shine,” Shastri added.

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