Virat Kohli has made no official request for break, says BCCI

New Delhi, December 14

India’s Test captain Virat Kohli has not put in any formal request for a break from the ODI leg of the upcoming South Africa tour, a top BCCI official has asserted.

Kohli will be leading India in a three-Test series starting December 26. After Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to the recurrence of a left hamstring injury, reports have emerged that Kohli will take a break to spend some time with family.

“As of now, Kohli hasn’t sent any formal request to skip the ODIs to either BCCI president Sourav Ganguly or secretary Jay Shah. If something is decided at a later date or he sustains an injury then it’s a different matter,” a senior BCCI official said.

The official said that all the players’ families are also travelling to South Africa aboard the same chartered flight due to the bio-bubble restrictions. “The skipper is travelling with his family. But yes, if he feels bubble fatigue after the Test series and wants to take a break, he would definitely inform the chairman of selectors and BCCI secretary, who is the convenor of the selection committee,” the source added.

One reason for the current speculation could be that once India are back home, they will again be inside a bubble for three weeks with Sri Lanka coming in for Tests and T20s. There were some reports that Kohli might take a break because of his daughter Vamika’s first birthday (January 11). — PTI