- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA Test captain Virat Kohli has reportedly opted out of the upcoming three-match one-day-international series in South Africa in January as he has plans to take a short break for personal reasons.
Kohli was recently replaced by Rohit Sharma as the skipper in the 50-over format, a month after he stepped down as the captain in the T20 format.
According to reports, the 33-year-old ace batter has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of his plans to spend time with his family as the one-day series in South Africa is around the same time when his daughter Bhamika turns one.
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma ruled out of South Africa Tests with injury
The news comes a day after the BCCI confirmed that Sharma has been ruled out of the South Africa Test series due to hamstring injury. He is, however, expected to be fit for the three one-day internationals starting on January 19 in Paarl. Sharma was picked as the vice-captain for the Test series replacing Ajinkya Rahane who has been demoted due to poor form. Sharma was replaced by India ‘A’ captain Priyank Panchal.
Enjoyed playing each moment under Kohli: Rohit Sharma
The first Test will begin on Boxing Day, December 26, in Centurion.
Kohli hasn’t requested for a break from SA one-day series yet: BCCI official
However, the news of Kohli skipping the one-day international series has given rise to speculations that all is not okay in the Indian dressing room. There have been reports about the Indian dressing room getting split over support for Kohli and Sharma in the past.
“Over the years, the Indian dressing room has been fraught with egos. Be it Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir. But that doesn’t mean that it has boiled over to what they go and do out there on the field. They’re professionals and are required to behave in a certain fashion at all times,” the Times of India quoted an informed source as saying.
The BCCI had informed in a media release while announcing the Test squad for the South Africa series that the white-ball captaincy was completely being handed over to Sharma.
The BCCI was accused of treating Kohli unjustly by removing him from the one-day captaincy but board president Sourav Ganguly, a former India captain himself, said they had requested Kohli to not give up T20 captaincy.
However, the board was not in favour of having two captaincy in the white-ball format and hence decided to hand over the leadership in the 50-over format to Sharma, who has five Indian Premier League crowns to his credit as the captain besides the 2018 Asia Cup trophy.
