India Squad For Remaining 3 Tests Vs England: When Will Virat Kohli Return? No Clarity On Ex-Captain's Availability, Says BCCI Official

The India squad for the the last 3 Tests vs England will be announced soon. There was no Virat Kohli in the first two Tests and one does not know whether he will be available for the last 3 Test or not. The squad for the 2nd Test was also changed as KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of the squad because of respective injuries. Sarfaraz Khan received his maiden call-up while Saurabh Kumar was included in the squad too. Will Virat return for the remainder of the series? There are doubts in BCCI.

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As per a BCCI source, Kohli has not yet reached out ot the board to announce his availability or not. "We have not heart anything from him on his return as yet," TOI quoted a BCCI source. There are rumours floating on social media that he is missing the Test series due to ill health of his mother. But Virat has not made any official statement on this matter. When BCCI released a statement, announcing Kohli's absence from the first 2 Tests, they said that he is taking a break due to personal reasons. BCCI had also requested fans to not speculate the reason of his absence.

India started off the series on a bad note, losing the match from a winning position. With 0-1 lead, they would have liked Kohli in the mix. But that reality is something else and the Indian management will have to make do with the crisis in hand. The crisis has only worsened with injuries to Jadeja and Rahul. India cannot afford a weak, inexperienced middle order. That is why Kohli's return to the squad is a must. 

The Men's Selection Committee have added Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar to India's squad.#INDvENG https://t.co/xgxI8NsxpV — BCCI (@BCCI) January 29, 2024

Knowing Virat, one thing is sure that he does not take national duty lightly untill unless there is a personal emergency. Kohli had taken a break from cricket during 2020-21 tour of Australia after the loss in Adelaide. At that time, he and wife Anushka Sharma were to become parents. After that Kohli took a break from cricket after IPL 2022 as he was down with mental health and did not want to pick up a bat. That break worked wonders for him and he returned to form in Asia Cup, breaking the drought of international centuries.   

India need Kohli right now. Let's see whether the great batter returns to national duty next month or not.