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Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)
Indian cricket fans will have to wait a little longer to see Virat Kohli's return to T20I cricket. On the eve of India vs Afghanistan T20I series, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that Kohli had opted out of the the first match in Mohali due to personal reasons. The star batter was expected to make a comeback to the format after more than a year when India hosts their Asian rivals in the three-match series starting January 11.
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Kohli and Rohit Sharma were picked for the series after weeks of speculations about their future in T20Is. The veteran duo last played a 20-over match for India in November 2022 during the T20 World Cup semi-final against England. The Indian cricket board has been building a core group of youngsters as the senior players were focusing on Tests and the ODI World Cup.
However, with the T20 World Cup 2024 set to take place in June, both Kohli and Rohit have made themselves available for selection in the shortest format. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Dravid said that Kohli will join the squad for the second and third T20Is in Indore and Bengaluru on January 14 and 17, respectively.
Dravid reveals reason behind Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan's absence
Some of the notable names missing from India's 16-member squad for the upcoming bilateral series are KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. There were reports that Kishan had lost his spot following disciplinary issues. However, the former Indian captain confirmed that Iyer and Kishan's absence was not due to such issues.
"Certainly, in Shreyas Iyer's case, there is absolutely no disciplinary reason for his non-inclusion. It's just that he missed out. There were a lot of batters in the team. Shreyas missed out, he didn't play the T20Is in South Africa if you noticed. They are a lot of batters and it's not easy to fit everyone," Dravid said.
India T20I Squad for Afghanistan Series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.