The third ODI between India and England on Sunday in Manchester is going to be Virat Kohli’s last international game before the Asia Cup 2022 next month in Sri Lanka. As India is scheduled to travel to the Caribbean for a white-ball series, the former captain is likely to stay back in the UK and spend some time off with his family.
According to a Times Now report, Kohli will be joined shortly by his mother in London, along with other family members. It has also been learned that the ace Indian batter will kickstart his preparations for the Asia Cup from August 1.
“Kohli will be joined by his mother and extended family during the break. He will avoid cricket during the said time and will kick off the preparations for Asia Cup 2022 from August 1. Kohli is in England with his wife and daughter,” the report said.
Kohli has been given rest and won’t feature in the 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is scheduled to be played against the West Indies in the Caribbean and the USA. Besides him, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendr Chahal have also not been included in the upcoming T20I series.
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, who has been offered rest by the selectors, Shikhar Dhawan will lead the Men in Blue in the three One Day Internationals. The former will be back to lead India in the five T20Is.
In the ongoing England tour, the focus has been primarily on Kohli. The former India captain slammed a fifty in the tour game against Leicestershire but failed to muster runs thereafter. In the rescheduled Test, he managed scores of 11 and 20 whereas, in the T20Is, he scored 1 and 11 in the last two games.
His struggle continued in the ODIs as well as he scored only 16 runs in the 2nd ODI at Lord’s on Thursday. Chasing a tricky target of 247, India were bundled out for 146, losing the game by 100 runs.
As India eye their first ODI series triumph on English soil since 2014, Kohli would now be hoping to bring out his A-game in the decider at Manchest
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