Test cricket is back in Hyderabad after a wait of 6 years. A large number of fans turned up at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on the first day of the game. The match saw England choosing to bat first; however, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja put the visitors on the back foot by taking early wickets. Despite this, skipper Ben Stokes batted with the Bazball approach, and his 70-run knock led the England side to a total of 246 runs.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is absent from the game; however, he is still making his presence felt. Fans were chanting Virat Kohli’s name during the day. Amidst this, a fan of the former Indian captain made headlines. Before the start of India’s innings, a spectator wearing Virat Kohli’s jersey entered the ground and touched Rohit Sharma’s feet.
A staff member from Team India quickly rushed to the ground and removed the invader from the field. As he was being pulled off the ground, it seemed that Rohit Sharma noticed ‘Virat’ written on his shirt, and he was left with a smile.
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Virat Kohli has withdrawn from the first two Test matches due to undisclosed personal reasons. The upcoming four Test matches are scheduled to be played at Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamshala, respectively. Virat Kohli will miss the Vizag Test as well, but we can expect him to join the squad for the remaining three games.
R Patidar, who represents Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket, and is Virat Kohli’s teammate at RCB has been named as the latter’s replacement. However, Patidar did not get a chance in the first Test; instead, the keeper-batsman Srikar Bharat replaced Virat Kohli in the playing XI.