Virat Kohli withdraws from first two Tests against England citing personal reasons

Indias batting mainstay Virat Kohli has pulled out of the first two Tests in the upcoming IND vs ENG Test series due to personal reasons which demand his presence and undivided attention the BCCI said on MondayThe BCCI urged the fans and media to refrain from speculating about the exact reason for his forced break before the fivematch IND vs ENG Test series begins in Hyderabad on January 25 The Board said it will name a replacement for the star batter soonVirat Kohli has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI to be withdrawn from the first two Tests of the upcoming IDFC First Bank Test series against England citing personal reasons BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statementAlso ReadlsquoNot all heroes wear capesrsquoThe BCCI also said that Kohli has discussed his decision with skipper Rohit Sharma and the team managementVirat has spoken to captain Rohit Sharma the team management and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention the release further statedShah also said that BCCI completely backs its star player and has faith in the team and its ability to get results even without its best batterThe BCCI respects his decision and the Board and team management has extended its support to the star batter and is confident in the abilities of the remaining squad members to step up and deliver commendable performances in the Test series the secretary saidHe also urged everyone to respect Kohlis privacyThe BCCI requests the media and fans to respect Virat Kohlis privacy during this time and refrain from speculating on the nature of his personal reasonsThe focus should remain on supporting the Indian cricket team as they embark on the upcoming challenges in the Test series Shah saidIt has been learnt that both Shah and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar were kept in loop about the possibility of Kohli needing a break at some point during the England seriesRecently Kohli also skipped the first T20I game against Afghanistan due to personal reasonsBefore that he had taken a short break again for personal reasons during Indias tour of South Africa where he missed an intrasquad practice game and flew to London within days after arriving in South AfricaThe last time he took a break which was not linked to any injury during a Test series was a paternity leave in 2021 when his daughter Vamika was born He only played the first Test of that seriesRajat Patidar or Sarfaraz Khan as replacementIt is understood that one among the two heavyweight India A performers Rajat Patidar of Madhya Pradesh and Sarfaraz Khan of Mumbai are frontrunners to replace KohliPatidar recently scored 151 against the England Lions in an unofficial Test and Sarfaraz scored a halfton in the second innings of the same gameThere is talk of including veteran Cheteshwar Pujara in the lineup considering his experience of 20000 plus firstclass runs including 7000 in TestsHowever it will be interesting if the current selection committee under Agarkar is ready to look back or move forwardThe batting lineup for first Test will comprise Yashasvi Jaiswal Rohit Sharma Shubman Gill KL Rahul Shreyas Iyer Ravindra Jadeja and KS Bharat wkWith agency inputs