Virat Kohli
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday said that Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be heading back home after the first Test against Australia in Adelaide. Kohli has been granted paternity leave to be with his wife Anushka Sharma for the birth of their first child.
"At the selection committee meeting held on October 26th, 2020, Mr Virat Kohli had informed the BCCI about his plans to return to India after the first Test in Adelaide. The BCCI has granted paternity leave to the Indian captain. He will return after the first Test against Australia in Adelaide," BCCI released a statement.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee met on Sunday to announce the replacements and make changes to the three squads for the Australia tour after receiving injury reports and updates from the BCCI Medical Team.
The four-Test matches against Australia will be held in Adelaide (Day-Night Test, December 17-21), Melbourne (Dec 26-30), Sydney (Jan 7-11, 2021) and Brisbane (Jan 15-19).
Kohli's absence will pave way for KL Rahul to take over the middle-order responsibility. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has been added to the Test squad as well although he has been rested for the ODIs and T20Is in a bid to recover fully for the final fixtures of the long tour. Mayank Agarwal will be opening alongside Rohit, the combination that helped India secure big wins during their home Tests of the World Test Championship.
Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha are yet to be confirmed for the Test series. Ishant is still at the NCA in Bengaluru recovering from the injury. Wriddhiman, on the other hand, suffered a hamstring tear last week ahead of IPL 2020 playoffs.
The revised Test squad is as below:
Virat Kohli (Captain), 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, Mohd. Siraj.
