New Delhi: Indian cricket team's star batter Virat Kohli, who will be next seen leading the national squad in three Tests against South Africa, has not put in any formal request for a break from the India vs South Africa ODI series of the upcoming India's tour of South Africa, a top BCCI official told news agency PTI.
Virat Kohli will captain team India in a three-Test series. The India vs South Africa 1st Test will be played on December 26 in Centurion. The third and final Test will be played in Cape Town on January 15.
The 1st ODI of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa will be played on January 19.
After senior opener Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the Test series due to a left hamstring injury, reports have emerged that India's Test captain Virat Kohli made himself unavailable for the ODI series to spend some time with his family.
“As of now, Kohli hasn’t sent any formal request to skip the ODIs to either BCCI president Sourav Ganguly or secretary Jay Shah. If something is decided at a later date or God forbid, he sustains an injury, then it’s a different matter,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.
“As things stand today, he is playing the three ODIs on January 19, 21, 23,” he added.
As per the PTI report, due to the bio-bubble restrictions, families of the players are also travelling to South Africa aboard the same charter flight.
“The skipper is travelling with his family. But yes, if he feels bubble fatigue after the Test series and wants to take a break, he would definitely inform the chairman of selectors and secretary (Shah), who is the convenor of the selection committee,” the source told PTI.
BCCI recently removed Virat Kohli from the ODI captaincy, after he announced to step down from T20I captaincy role, and then Rohit Sharma was appointed as the new captain of the Indian team.