Virat Kohli withdraws from first two Tests against England; Patidar, Sarfaraz in contention

New Delhi: India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli has pulled out of the first two Tests against England due to personal reasons which "demand his presence and undivided attention", the BCCI said on Monday.

The BCCI urged the fans and media to refrain from speculating about the exact reason for his forced break before the five-match series begins in Hyderabad on January 25.

The Board said it will name a replacement for the star batter soon.

"Virat Kohli has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to be withdrawn from the first two Tests of the upcoming IDFC First Bank Test series against England, citing personal reasons," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.

The BCCI also said that Kohli has discussed his decision with skipper Rohit Sharma and the team management.

"Virat has spoken to captain Rohit Sharma, the team management and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention," the release further stated.

Shah also said that BCCI completely backs its star player and has faith in the team and its ability to get results even without its best batter.

"The BCCI respects his decision and the Board and team management has extended its support to the star batter and is confident in the abilities of the remaining squad members to step up and deliver commendable performances in the Test series," the secretary said.

He also urged everyone to respect Kohli's privacy. "The BCCI requests the media and fans to respect Virat Kohli's privacy during this time and refrain from speculating on the nature of his personal reasons.

"The focus should remain on supporting the Indian cricket team as they embark on the upcoming challenges in the Test series," Shah said.

It has been learnt that both Shah and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar were kept in loop about the possibility of Kohli needing a break at some point during the England series.

Recently, Kohli also skipped the first T20I game against Afghanistan due to "personal reasons".

Before that, he had taken a short break, again for personal reasons, during India's tour of South Africa where he missed an intra-squad practice game and flew to London, within days after arriving in South Africa.

The last time he took a break, which was not linked to any injury, during a Test series was a paternity leave in 2021 when his daughter Vamika was born. He only played the first Test of that series.

Rajat Patidar vs Sarfaraz Khan as replacement

It is understood that one among the two heavyweight India 'A' performers -- Rajat Patidar of Madhya Pradesh and Sarfaraz Khan of Mumbai -- are frontrunners to replace Kohli.

Patidar recently scored 151 against the England Lions in an unofficial Test and Sarfaraz scored a half-ton in the second innings of the same game.

There is talk of including veteran Cheteshwar Pujara in the line-up considering his experience of 20,000 plus first-class runs, including 7000 in Tests.

However, it will be interesting if the current selection committee under Agarkar is ready to look back or move forward.

The batting line-up for first Test will comprise Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and KS Bharat (wk). (PTI)