Virat Kohli to miss first T20I against Afghanistan

Indian coach Rahul Dravid confirmed on Wednesday that Virat Kohli will be unavailable for selection for the first T20I against Afghanistan.

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli with head coach Rahul Dravid during a practice session. | Photo Credit: PTI

Virat Kohli will miss India’s first T20I against Afghanistan on Thursday due to personal reasons, confirmed head coach Rahul Dravid.

However, the star batter will be available for the second and third T20Is later this week.

Sportstar understands that Kohli, who returns to India’s T20I fold for the first time since November 2022, would join the team directly in Indore ahead of the second fixture. While Dravid did not specify the exact reason behind Kohli’s absence in the series opener, the latter’s daughter Vamika turns three on Thursday.

Last week, the national selection committee named Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan, which is the only international T20 series that India will be featuring in ahead of the T20 World Cup in June.

Dravid confirmed that for now, the team management will stick to the combination of Rohit -- who joined the training session later in the day -- and Yashasvi Jaiswal as openers.

“When you have a squad and a team, you have that flexibility to do whatever is required if that is in the best interest of the team and if that gives you a chance to succeed. Nothing is closed, but we are certainly happy with what Jaiswal has done as an opener for us and that gives us the left and right combination at the top,” Dravid said.