Virat Kohli Misses Optional Practice Session Due to Personal Reasons, Expected to Return For Netherlands Warm-up – News18

Senior batter Virat Kohli skipped Team India’s optional practice session due to personal reasons on Monday. The reports suggested that Kohli had flown back to home in Mumbai due to personal reasons. However, the former India captain is expected to rejoin India’s squad before the warm-up match against Netherlands which will be played at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.

According to a report on PTI, the batting maestro left for his home from Guwahati on September 30 due to emergency personal reasons.

“It was an optional session. He is expected to join the squad soon and could play the warm-up game if required,” a BCCI source privy to developments told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Kohli will be playing his 4th World Cup as he has already lifted the trophy in the 2011 showpiece event under MS Dhoni’s leadership. Meanwhile, he led the Men in Blue to the semifinal in the 2019 World Cup where they suffered to New Zealand.

The batting maestro has been in good form this year in the 50-over format. He has scored 612 runs in 16 ODIs thus far this year which includes three centuries, with an average of 55.63. He will be one of the key players for India in the showpiece ICC event, he failed to hit a century in the 2019 WC but will look to score a few this time to help India lift the trophy for third time.

The warm-up match between India and England washed due to rain and Netherlands clash will be India’s final chance to finalise their team combination and Playing XI before the start of the tournament proper against Australia in Chennai on October 8.

Apart from Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, batter Shreyas Iyer and pacer Mohammed Shami also skipped the session which was attended by the likes of Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and veteran spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

The Indians had a full-fledged session with Gill, Surya and KL Rahul batting for a considerable amount of time against the likes of Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

Ashwin and Jadeja also rolled their arm over for considerable period of time as they both are going to play a massive role in this World Cup on tracks which are expected to offer turn.