India’s stalwart batter Virat Kohli is returning to India from South Africa due to personal reasons ahead of the Boxing Day Tests against the Proteas, according to BCCI sources.
Kohli was set to make his first appearance in a practice match after the World Cup final heartbreak last month, but he will now be heading back to India. However, he remains available for the forthcoming Test series starting on December 26.
“Virat is coming back from South Africa due to some personal reasons but he will be available for the test series against South Africa starting on December 26,” a BCCI source stated.
The series will be a part of the World Test Championship 2023- 25 cycle. He will be a crucial figure for India as he was the nation’s leading run scorer during the last WTC cycle with 932 runs from 30 innings and has already netted a century and a fifty from his side’s two completed Tests against the West Indies to begin the 2023- 2025 cycle.
India is at the top of the WTC table, with a win and a draw, giving them a total of 66.67 points percentage. This year in seven Tests, Virat has scored 557 runs at an average of 55.70, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score is 186.
The champion right-hander is also coming off a prosperous ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on home soil as he scored a whopping 765 runs, including three centuries and six fifties, claiming the Player of the Tournament award.
Virat has an excellent record against the red ball in South Africa, with the 35-year-old having scored two of his 29 Test centuries against the Proteas away from home. It is also one of only three countries that Kohli can boast an average greater than 50, with his healthy average of 51.35 only bettered in Australia and at home in India. In all, Virat has scored 719 runs in seven Tests in SA, which includes two centuries and three fifties.
The last time India travelled to South Africa, they fell to a 2-1 series defeat during the last WTC cycle.
(Inputs from ANI)