Virat Kohli Granted Paternity Leave, Ajinkya Rahane to Lead Indian Test Team Against Australia in his Absence
In a major addition to the Test team, Rohit Sharma was included in the Test team. Captain Virat Kohli will only be available for the first Test against Australia starting December 17 onwards. Kohli has been grated paternity leave and will return to India. In Kohli’s absence, Ajinkya Rahane is expected to leave the Indian team
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) selection committee on Sunday named certain replacements after receiving injury reports and updates from the Medical Team. In a major addition to the Test team, Rohit Sharma was included in the Test team. Captain Virat Kohli will only be available for the first Test against Australia starting December 17 onwards. Kohli will then miss the remainder of the series as he has been grated paternity leave and will return to India. The Indian captain is expecting his first child with wife Anushka Sharma. In Kohli’s absence, Ajinkya Rahane is expected to leave the Indian team. Rohit Sharma Added to India’s Test Squad Against Australia, Virat Kohli Granted Paternity Leave; to Feature Only in First Test, T Natarajan and Sanju Samson Included for T20Is and ODIs Respectively.
Rahane was named as the Test vice-captain and with Kohli set to miss the three Tests, it is evident that the 32-year-old Mumbai batsman will lead the Test side after the series opener in Adelaide.
India’s tour of Australia kicks-off with a three-match ODI series, beginning on November 27. After it, the teams will face-off in the three T20Is between December 04 to 08. The Test series will end with fourth Test, starting from January 15 onwards.
Revised Test Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain) (first Test only), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 09, 2020 05:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).