India vs Afghanistan 2024

India to kickstart T20 World Cup preparations sans Virat Kohli, star batter to miss 1st T20I

The buzz surrounding India’s T20 series against Afghanistan is electric, fueled by the much-anticipated return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Fans have erupted with joy at their inclusion, eager to witness the iconic duo grace the shortest format again after more than a year’s absence. However, there’s a slight twist- unfortunately, Kohli will miss the opening game in Mohali due to personal reasons. While disappointment lingers among the fans, the excitement for Sharma’s return and the series itself remains undimmed.

The development was confirmed by head coach Rahul Dravid who addressed a press conference sometime back. “Virat Kohli will miss the first game due to personal reasons. He will be playing from the second and third T20I,” he said.

Dravid also confirmed that Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are currently the first-choice openers in T20Is, “As of now, we will be certainly opening with Rohit and Jaiswal. We’re really happy with what Jaiswal has done as an opener for us, and he gives us a left-right combination as well at the top,” he said.

Dravid clears the air regarding Kishan’s absence

In recent times, there has been a lot of chatter regarding Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s absence from the T20I squad that will take on Afghanistan. Some reports suggest that their exclusion was on disciplinary grounds as the Indian Cricket Board was displeased with the fact that Kishan attended a television show while they cited that Iyer had refused to participate in the Ranji Trophy. However, Dravid has now cleared the air regarding the matter. Dravid confirmed that there was no disciplinary measure in place and it was just a case of Kishan being unavailable for selection. Kishan has withdrawn from the South Africa Tests owing to mental fatigue and hasn’t conveyed his availability to the board yet. In the case of Iyer, Dravid said that it was a problem of plenty that led to his ouster.

“Media reports are not true. Ishan Kishan asked for the rest, he hasn’t made himself available and Shreyas Iyer missed out due to lots of batters in the mix. No disciplinary actions, these are fake,” the 50-year-old said.