The speculations over the “personal reason” behind Virat Kohli’s absence from the first two Test matches against England ended on Saturday after close friend and former South Africa captain AB de Villiers revealed that the India star and his wife Anushka Sharma are expecting their second child. The revelation soon sparked questions over whether Kohli would return for the remaining three Test matches against Ben Stokes’ men.
Reports later in the evening indicated that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee are slated to have a word with the former India captain about his plans at the earliest.
On January 22, three days before the start of the opening Test match against England, Kohli withdrew himself from the matches in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. BCCI later released a statement saying that Kohli spoke to India captain Rohit Sharma and the team management, where he emphasised that “while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention.”
“Yes, his second child is on the way. It’s family time and things are important to him. If you are not true and genuine to yourself, you lose track of what you are here for. I think most people’s priority is family. You can’t judge Virat for that. Yes, we miss him. But he has made absolutely the right decision,” said De Villiers.