India Tour of South Africa: No harm in taking break but timing has to be better: Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin has reckoned that Virat Kohli opting for a break and missing the 3-match ODI series against South Africa wasn’t at all a problem but the “timing has to be better”. Follow India tour of South Africa Live on InsideSport.IN.
Azharuddin’s remarks came after Kohli asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a break in January to spend some time with his family. It is important to note that Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s daughter Vamika turns one on January 11, 2022.
“Virat Kohli has informed that he’s not available for the ODI series & Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the upcoming test. There is no harm in taking a break but the timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation about the rift. Neither will be giving up the other form of cricket,” Azharuddin tweeted.
India Tour of South Africa: No harm in taking break but timing has to be better: Azharuddin on Kohli’s request
Earlier in the day, sources in the know of developments confirmed to ANI that Kohli has indeed asked the board for a small break in January next year.
“Yes, Kohli has asked for a small break in January to spend some time with his family. It effectively means that he would miss the ODI series against South Africa,” the source said.
It should be noted that Virat Kohli is yet to react to his sacking as the ODI captain of the Indian cricket team. Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021, Kohli, while announcing his decision to step down from the T20I captaincy, had said that he wants to focus more on the ODI and Test captaincy.
However, the star batsman was recently given a 48-hour ultimatum to step down from the ODI captaincy. Kohli opted against it, following which BCCI made the announcement of making Rohit Sharma the ODI captain public last week.
The next day, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly sent out a statement saying he had “personally spoken with Kohli” and so had the selectors.
Ganguly disclosed that the board had asked the 33-year-old not to resign from the T20 captaincy.
India Tour of South Africa: No harm in taking break but timing has to be better: Azharuddin on Kohli’s request
