- The Third Test begins on Thursday with the series tantalizingly set at 1-1
- Kohli missed the first two Tests and is now ruled out for the remaining three
- India left out Shreyas Iyer with a back problem, but Jasprit Bumrah is in
England will not have to compete with Virat Kohli’s batting genius in their quest to become the second team in 20 years to win a Test series in India.
Kohli, a player with 80 international hundreds, was yesterday left out of India’s squad for Thursday’s third Test in Rajkot, apart from the following ones in Ranchi and Dharamsala due to the private matter that arose last month.
The 35-year-old has not missed a full series since making his Test debut in June 2011, but left his teammates before a ball was bowled in Hyderabad, where England won by 28 runs, and told to the Indian leadership “certain personal matters”. Situations demand his presence and his full attention, and he now remains on the sidelines for the rest of the tour.
England will also not have to bowl Shreyas Iyer again after the home selectors reacted to his disappointing contribution of 104 runs in four innings wielding the axe.
It is a sign of how well an unschooled international attack has fared in strange conditions that they have beaten a batsman known for his work against spin, and also kept another, India captain Rohit Sharma, in a double-digit tally so far.
Virat Kohli to miss rest of India vs England series due to ‘personal reasons’
Not that Ben Stokes will underestimate the challenge that awaits him when the captain wins his 100th cap this week. Since late 2004, the only team to leave the subcontinent as Test series winners is Alastair Cook’s England in 2012-13.
The tourists are still without their player of the year, Harry Brook, a batsman who averages 62.15 in a dozen appearances, including four hundred, for family reasons.
Brook, 24, has not yet been ruled out of flying to India at some point but remains in the UK indefinitely, while spinner Jack Leach’s badly bruised knee will be re-evaluated when the team returns to India after their summer break. mid-series in Abu Dhabi.
KL Rahul returns to the Indian team after missing the second match due to injury
Ravindra Jadeja also returns to the Indian team ahead of the third Test in Rajkot.
However, it is a sign of Bazball’s impact so far that while calm prevails in the England camp, India has reacted with a change, recalling fitness-pending KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja and promoting the seamer to no end. Akash Deep.
