Virat Kohli set to miss first two tests vs England for 'personal reasons'

Virat Kohli is set to miss the first two test matches in England's tour of India for personal reasons, the BCCI has announced.

Per a statement from the team, Kohli is missing the test matches due to, "certain personal situations [that] demand his presence and undivided attention." There are currently no specifics.

Kohli is set to miss the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam tests, leaving a significant hole in India's middle order that needs filling.  So far, no replacement has been named, with the series set to begin on Thursday,  the 25th of January.

England's Harry Brook has also pulled out of at least some of the series, also for personal reasons, with no specifics given. Brook has been a huge part of England's Bazball revolution and will presumably be replaced by Johnny Bairstow with Ben Foakes keeping wicket. Dan Lawrence has been called up as batting cover.

England and India are preparing themselves for an epic five-match test series, starting on January 25th and ending with the last test that starts on the 7th March. India are impenetrable at home, having only lost three test matches in the subcontinent since 2012. England are entering the series with a plan to remain true to their Bazballing principles, how do we think that will go?

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli (missing first two tests), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan.

Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook (missing possibly all tests), Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.

The surprises are mostly in the England squad, with Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir bolting from the blue to make their first international tour. Bashir has played just six first-class games and 10 wickets at 67 whilst Tom Hartley has taken his 40 wickets at 36.57. This just shows how thin England’s stock of spinners is given their lack of experience and record.

Both Hartley and Bashir stand at 1.93cm tall, suggesting England sought spinners who will be able to extract bounce from Indian tracks which we presume will turn and bounce early and often. Given how England may struggle to balance their side regardless of the pitches if they are forced to rely on these two, they can’t expect many runs from the tail.

A huge question hanging over England’s team is the fitness of their literal and spiritual leader, Ben Stokes. Stokes has been dealing with a long-term injury for quite some time, finally receiving surgery following the ODI World Cup. His fitness remains somewhat of a doubt leaving a potentially huge hole in England’s batting lineup.

Ben Duckett, Zac Crawley, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Johnny Bairstow, Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

It is incredibly hard to predict how England will line up for the first test in Hyderabad, so we have decided to go for a batting-heavy XI with the expectation that Joe Root will play a big part with the ball. Ben Stokes moves up to number three to try and shield his middle-order and they add some batting strength with Ahmed at eight. This lineup is light on bowling so could be ground into the dust.

Ben Duckett spoke to Sky Sports Cricket recently, telling them, “If we feel like it’s going to be a terrible pitch, sometimes getting 50 off 60 or whatever that may be is going to be a valuable knock,” suggesting they are going to attempt to keep their aggressive style despite potentially tough conditions.

England’s attacking outlook is nothing new for India with captain Rohit Sharma often willing to take the aggressive route when conditions aren’t in his favour. His 66 from 96 balls on a ragging turner in Ahmedabad in 2021 was essentially the difference between the sides, perhaps showing England how to do it. Sharma is also a world-class opener and more familiar with conditions.

At this point, England’s new approach isn’t really that new, and any questions that remain are set to be answered in the coming weeks. Apart from a tough match-up against Australia, England have dominated pretty much every series since they started Bazball, India could well be looking to nullify this approach with slow, turning pitches.

Another aspect of this tour that makes it so intriguing is what sort of pitches India are looking to prepare. Part of their domination at home has been their battery of world-beating spinners, including Ashwin and Jadeja. Something worth noting though, they also boast Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in their bowling lineup, meaning they could go in a completely different direction.

Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.

India could well go into this series picking three spinning all-rounders, each with a batting average of over 25. Axar Patel was arguably India’s best batter in last year’s series against Australia, regularly bailing his side out. This luxury of runs plus wickets allows India to play three premier spinners and remain incredibly balanced.

Shubman Gill looks all money one of the most talented batters in world cricket, despite that, he has not found any consistency in tests. He recently moved down to number three but could only reach a top score of 36 in their recent series in South Africa. Another few tests without bulk runs and Gill could be under real pressure.

India are going to win this series, and probably quite comfortably given their imperious home form. England will win a test, possibly in Rajkot where spin can be so dominant it nullifies even India’s fantastic batters. Still, this could well be crushing victory for India, we see them walking away 4-1 winners.