Virat Kohli to miss T20I opener against Afghanistan due to 'personal reasons'

Star India batsman Virat Kohli will miss the IND vs AFG 1st T20I due to personal reasons coach Rahul Dravid said on Wednesday Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma both returned to the T20 squad after more than a years absence for the series starting Thursday in Mohali as the teams prepare for the T20 World Cup in June Virat Kohli will miss the IND vs AFG 1st T20I due to personal reasons Dravid said at a press conference He will be playing from the second and third T20 Kohli and Rohit last played a T20 international in November 2022 when India lost to England in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in Australia Dravid said Rohit and the lefthanded Yashasvi Jaiswal remain as the teams firstchoice openers in the T20 format As of now we will be certainly opening with Rohit and Jaiswal Dravid said when asked if Kohli could open with Rohit But when you have a squad you have to have that flexibility to do whatever is required if that is in the best interest of the team and gives us the best chance to succeed So nothing is closed But certainly were really happy with what Jaiswal has done as an opener for us and he gives us a leftright combination as well at the topAlso ReadCape Townrsquos lsquopitch perilrsquoJaiswal 22 made the Indian team after a stellar show in the Indian Premier league last year when he scored 625 runs at a destructive strikerate of 16361 Rinku Singh was another IPL performer who made his T20 debut for India in December and has impressed with his power hitting Rinku Singh has started well in international cricket and he is playing good cricket Dravid said of the lefthanded middleorder batsman He is playing the role of finisher well and this series is another opportunity for him to take forward his development Hopefully he will play well even in the future The omission of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan has been a talkingpoint ahead of the series with some reports suggesting Iyer was dropped on disciplinary grounds But Dravid denied the chatter No absolutely not Dravid said of the reports Ishan was not available for selection Ishan requested for a break in South Africa which we supported and he has not yet made himself available for selection In Shreyas Iyers case there is absolutely no disciplinary reason for his noninclusion There were a lot of batsmen in the team and I think Shreyas missed out He is a fine player The second T20 will be played in Indore on Sunday with the final match in Bengaluru on January 17With agency inputs