NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – India captain Virat Kohli will return home from Australia after the opening test in Adelaide next month to attend the birth of his child, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said yesterday.
Kohli’s deputy Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the final three tests of the tour which begins in Sydney on Nov. 27 with first of the six short-form internationals.
At the Oct. 26 selection committee meeting, Kohli informed the BCCI of his plans to return home after the day-night test in Adelaide from Dec. 17, board secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
“The BCCI has granted paternity leave to the Indian captain. He will return after the first test against Australia in Adelaide,” Shah said.
Kohli’s actress wife Anushka Sharma is pregnant with their first child.
Under Kohli, India registered their maiden test series victory in Australia last year.
The BCCI announced several changes to the touring party after several players sustained injuries in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
Opener Rohit Sharma has been added to the test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after initially being left out of the touring party because of a hamstring niggle.
Quick Ishant Sharma, who was also omitted initially because of a muscle tear, would be added to the test squad should he recover in time.
The Indian board confirmed test wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha has injured both his hamstrings in the IPL and a call on his availability will be taken later.
Rishabh Pant is the other wicket-keeper in India’s test squad.
Sanju Samson has joined the one-day team as an additional wicketkeeper, while quick T Natarajan replaced spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who sustained a shoulder injury, in the Twenty20 side.
India squads:
T20 squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan
ODI squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper)
Test squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj.
