Virat Kohli to be ruled out of England Test series completely? BCCI official stuns Cricketing World

India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli who opted out of the first two Tests against England in the 5-match series owing to personal reasons, has not spoken to any of his teammates, coaching staff, and the BCCI about his possibility of to return for the team when the 3rd Test in Rajkot takes place.

Virat Kohli had spoken to Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid about his decision to stay off the cricketing circuit until mid-February due to some family issues but had ensured that he would be available for the 3rd Test. However, in the latest development, BCCI officials have stated that there is very little clarity about his comeback for the matches after the Vishakhapatnam Test.

“We haven’t heard anything from him on his return as yet.” – a BCCI official claimed to Times of India. 

He was supposed to play a key role for the Indian contingent in this all-important series, which is against a very dangerous Bazball-playing Ben Stokes-led England side. The hosts are playing to not just improve their situation in the World Test Championship points table but also to ensure that their home dominance in the longest format remains intact.

India have not lost a single Test series at home since England defeated them 2-1 in a 4-match series back in 2012. At that time, Virat Kohli was just 2-3 years into his international career and the team overall was going through a transition.

Since that defeat, India have become a dominant force in home conditions but their dominance will be up for a massive test this time around. The challenge was evident in the 1st Test itself as India dramatically lost the opening match by 28 runs and it was shocking because the hosts had a firm grip over the contest for most of the sessions in Hyderabad.

India did pretty well with the ball and the bat in the 1st and 2nd innings but England’s belief and resilience started to pay off and work from day 3 onwards. India’s lead of 190 runs was cut short by a sensational knock from Ollie Pope whose 196-run effort helped England post 231 as the target.

In response, India lost wickets after wickets and had a horrific top and middle-order collapse. The match was supposed to last until the 5th day but England changed the entire complexion of the game with Tom Hartley breaking India’s batting spine with career best of 7/62. It was evident that India were desperately missing Virat Kohli in the team.

With Virat Kohli, KL Rahul And Ravindra Jadeja All Unavailable For 2nd Test, India Have Bleak Chances Of A Comeback In Vizag

To make matters worse for the home team, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter KL Rahul who filled up for Virat Kohli’s spot at number 4 in the 1st Test, have been ruled out from featuring in the 2nd Test due to hamstring and quadriceps injuries respectively.

While the BCCI named Rajat Patidar as Kohli’s replacement, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar, and Sarfaraz Khan have been named as replacements for Jadeja and Rahul. The management will gamble upon either Sarfaraz or Patidar to play at number 4 but either way, India have a highly inexperienced batting order which faltered badly under pressure during the 231-run chase in Hyderabad.

Therefore, India’s chances of staging a comeback in the 2nd Test are looking very bleak and all the team management will hope for is Virat Kohli to return in time for the 3rd Test.