Indian skipper Virat Kohli may not feature in the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka citing personal reasons. Virat Kohli has been in ominous form for Team India, and recently brought up his 31st ton in his 200th One Day International. In the race to score 31 centuries, he went past the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Virat Kohli also became only the second player in the history of limited overs cricket to get a century in his 200th game, the other being AB De Villiers. Earlier, India hosted New Zealand in the 1st ODI at Wankhede. India lost the match by 6 wickets to a brilliant partnership between Tom Latham and Ross Taylor.
Meanwhile, starting with the longer format, India is scheduled to play three Tests, three ODIs and three T20s against Sri Lanka from November 16 to December 24. “Kohli has informed the BCCI that there are some personal reasons and that is why he won’t be available in the month of December. Kohli has been playing non-stop cricket for quite sometimes now and he certainly would like to be fresh for South Africa tour in January,” a source in the board informed.
The teams for that series to play Board Presidents XI will be picked shortly in Mumbai. The Tigers will play one warm-up match at Eden Gardens before playing the first Test at Nagpur from November 16 to 20.
It certainly is a hectic schedule for Team India and that could be a possible reason for Kohli asking for rest. He is a key cog in the Indian wheel and he has his eyes set on the 2019 cricket World Cup.
About the upcoming series, Kohli said, “Yes, we have spoken about the schedule, it’s become quite hectic. That’s something we will definitely have to sit and discuss in future. Because, if you look at New Zealand, they haven’t played any cricket after Champions Trophy. There has been such a good lay off. It can be the difference in doing well in a big tournament and performing poorly.”
#TeamIndia 280/8 in 50 overs (V Kohli 121) #INDvNZ #Virat200 pic.twitter.com/Kn0i8Wy6q1
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2017
India will be looking to square the ODI series versus New Zealand at Pune. The 2nd ODI is slated to be played on October 25.
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