Things are changing up apace in the indian cricket setup. Not long ago was Kohli their all-format leader but now, his limited-overs reigns have been passed onto his deputy Rohit.
India’s tour of South Africa will commence on December 26. Teams will start off with a three-match long test series which will conclude on January 15. Later, they will move on play an equal number of ODIs beginning January 19. Cricketing world will witness “Rohit Sharma: The ODI Captain” for the very first time.
BCCI official breaks silence on Kohli’s decision to skip ODIs
On a rather interesting note, several recent rumours suggested that Virat Kohli didn’t want to play under Rohit’s ODI-captaincy since he never relinquished his post. Sources conveyed that Kohli wanted to spend some time with his family after daughter Vamika turns one-year old on January 11. Thus, Kohli missing RSA One-Day Intl’s looked probable.
But that was until a day ago. Yesterday, one BCCI official reported to PTI and quashed any rumours of the same. He confirmed that Kohli hasn’t talked to anybody about skipping RSA ODIs.
Here’s what he said: “As of now, Virat Kohli hasn’t sent any formal request to skip the ODIs to either BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, or BCCI secretary Jay Shah. If something is decided at a later date or God forbid, he sustains an injury… Then it is a different matter.”
“As things stand today, he(Kohli) is playing the 3 ODIs on January 19, 21, 23,” the official added.
He elaborated that each and every player’s family is accompanying them on the tour. They will be on same chartered flight as the players. King Kohli is no exception.
“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(Jay Shah), who is the convenor of the selection committee,” the source was quoted as saying.