Virat Kohli to play three-match ODI series against South Africa

A lot of reports were doing rounds that India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli will be missing out on the three-match ODI series against South Africa. However, BCCI has cleared the air on the matter and added that Kohli will continue in SA ODIs. India is all set to tour SA from December 26 and will lock horns with Proteas for three Tests followed by the ODIs. The T20Is of the series has been scrapped till further notice.

With the series coming up, Rohit Sharma was given the charge of leading India across white-ball formats. Reports were doing round that Kohli was unhappy with the captaincy change in the ODI format and would not be fine playing under Rohit and hence, he decided to walk away. There were also reports that Kohli had decided to miss the series for sake of having some family time. However, a top BCCI official has put a full stop to all such speculations.

“There is no truth in reports of Virat skipping the ODIs,” said a top BCCI official as quoted by Cricbuzz.

With Kohli and Rohit not playing under each other, many big names from the cricket fraternity turned up to talk on the matter. Former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin stated that these reports only give rise to speculations of drift between two senior players. In the same line, Kirti Azad added that this feud would not be healthy for India in long run.

This just substantiates speculation about the rift: Mohammed Azharuddin

“Virat Kohli has informed that he’s not available for the ODI series & Rohit Sharma is unavailable fr d upcoming test. There is no harm in taking a break but d timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation abt d rift. Neither will be giving up d other form of cricket,” said Mohammad Azharuddin on reports of Virat Kohli not playing the ODIs.

“If Rohit and Virat are not playing together then the team will suffer later, they will themselves suffer first. One player will replace another. No one is indispensable. Many greats have come and gone. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly. So, they will suffer first if they do not play in each other’s captaincy,” said Kirti Azad while reacting to Azharuddin’s comments.