New Delhi: Veteran right-handed batter Virat Kohli has rejoined the Indian cricket team to begin preparations for the first test match against South Africa. The Boxing Day test match will be played at the Centurion on Tuesday, December 26. The second and final game will be played in Capetown on January 3, 2024.
Earlier, it was reported that the 35-year-old Kohli had to leave South Africa due to some emergency, but Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources have revealed that Kohli was on a pre-planned London trip and is back in South Africa.
However, the BCCI and the Indian team management were aware of the travel plans and Kohli was never going to play the inter-squad game in Pretoria from December 20 to December 22.
Virat Kohli in the nets. (Vimal Kumar). pic.twitter.com/ZTYg2eX5Wl
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 24, 2023
“Virat Kohli wasn’t going to play that game. The team management was aware of his plan and schedule, and it isn’t something which happened overnight or due to a family emergency. Look at the player in question, it’s Virat Kohli. He is very well planned when it comes to these things and his London trip was communicated and planned well in advance,” a BCCI official told news platform News18.
The BCCI official also added that before departing for his London trip on December 19, Kohli had good 3-4 training sessions. “Kohli left India for South Africa on December 15. Had good 3-4 training sessions before he went to London on December 19. For the next few days, he was in London and has now linked up with the Test squad and will in all likelihood train in Centurion tomorrow.”
The two-match Test series will be a part of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. As of now, India is at the top of the WTC table, with a win and a draw, giving them a total of 66.67 points percentage.
This year in seven Tests, Virat has scored 557 runs at an average of 55.70, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score is 186.
Virat has an excellent record against the red ball in South Africa, with the 35-year-old having scored two of his 29 Test centuries against the Proteas away from home.
It is also one of only three countries where Kohli can boast an average greater than 50, with his healthy average of 51.35 only bettered in Australia and at home in India. In all, Virat has scored 719 runs in seven Tests in SA, which includes two centuries and three fifties.
The last time India travelled to South Africa they fell to a 2-1 series defeat during the last WTC cycle.
