Despite returning to the T20I team after a year, Virat Kohli will not be part of the playing XI in the first India vs Afghanistan T20I on Thursday. India coach Rahul Dravid confirmed during the pre-match press conference that the former India skipper will miss the opening encounter due to personal reasons.
Having said that, Kohli will be in the team for the second T20I at Indore, later in the week. At the PC, Dravid also cleared the air, that India will not have Kohli at the top, but it will be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma, who will open the inning.
He said, “No, we have not decided anything on that. Yashasvi is expected to open with Rohit. It also gives us the chance to play right-hand, left-hand combo.”
On the other hand, Dravid clarified that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not left out of the team due to any disciplinary reason. It was only availability issue, and the duo had asked for breaks. Dravid went on to add, they will be back in reckoning after performances in the domestic circuit.
“No disciplinary reason for Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion. It’s unfortunate because he is an excellent batsman but there are so many of them,” Dravid said.
