The India National Cricket Team has suffered a few significant hits ahead of their two-game Test series against South Africa on their ongoing tour of the country. The Men in Blue had already lost Ishan Kishan for unspecified reasons - and replaced him with KS Bharat - and will now be without Ruturaj Gaikwad after he failed to recover in time from an injury. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, has returned to India for now to deal with an undisclosed family emergency but, as per reports, is expected back in South Africa in time for the first Test. (Cricket News)
Furthermore, according to reports, Kohli obtained his release from the Indian camp from the coaching team and returned to Mumbai - where he lives with his wife and actress, Anushka Sharma, and daughter Vamika - promptly, missing India's practice intra-squad Test match. India will play South Africa in the first Test starting on Boxing Day, December 26, 2023, with Kohli in a race against time to make it back to the country.
ALSO READ: IND-W Vs AUS-W: Ghosh Debuts In Mumbai
Kohli had also missed the first two white-ball leg of the ongoing tour after he and Rohit Sharma chose to withdraw their names from the candidature. As a result, Suryakumar Yadav led the Men in Blue for the T20 Internationals while KL Rahul took over the captain duties for the One Day bouts. Rohit Sharma, however, is expected to resume his role first Test onward.
India's squad for the two-game Test series against South Africa:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (replaced Ishan Kishan).
