Virat Kohli has reportedly requested to be left out of India’s squad for the third Test against Sri Lanka citing personal reasons.
According to a report in Sportstar, the India skipper approached the national selection panel ahead of Monday’s squad announcement for the upcoming New Zealand T20I series and the Sri Lanka Tests.
India are set to face the island nation in a three-match Test series in November-December. If Kohli’s request is confirmed, then he will miss the third Test in Kanpur from December 2. The report stated that Kohli’s intimation led to the panel picking a squad for just the first two Tests on Monday.
Chief selector MSK Prasad on Monday said that there were plans in place for Kohli to be given a break in the coming few months in order help the star batsman manage his workload.
Kohli is among a handful Indian cricketers who plays regularly in all three formats of the game. The 28-year-old also has the added pressure of leading the team in all three formats, apart from being the lead batsman.
“As far as the Test series is concerned, he is going to play,” Prasad was quoted as saying. “At some point of time, the rotation policy that we are following will apply to the captain. We are also monitoring his workload. He has been playing continuously right from IPL till today, we need to give him a break which we will consider after the Test series.”
Ahead of India’s first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday, where Kohli smashed his 31st ODI ton, the India captain had raised concerns over the hectic schedule of the Indian team, praying for adequate rest and recovery time between series.
“Some of the key batsmen will definitely get some rest in the future weeks because of the importance of the away tours coming up,” Kohli had said. “So we will have to figure out ways to do that. But it’s certainly a thing that we need to discuss for the future as well.”
He added: “We are expected to perform on a consistent basis. But I think the rest and time to prepare should be adequate for all. This should not be an area where players are changed according to form, you need to look at all aspects in terms of how many games you are playing, how much rest you are getting.”
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