the T20 series between India and Afghanistan is about to kick off from Thursday, January 11. Fans were thrilled recently with Rohit Sharma appointed as captain and Virat Kohli making a return to this format after 14 months. However, just a day before the encounter, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid disclosed in a pre-match press conference that India’s star batter Virat Kohli would be absent from the first T20 match due to personal reasons.

Whether Kohli will participate in the following match scheduled for January 14 in Indore remains uncertain. There’s also news that Rohit Sharma hadn’t arrived in Mohali by January 10 for the match on January 11. Nonetheless, Rahul Dravid indicated that Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the batting, potentially leading to Shubman Gill losing his place.

Virat Kohli was set to return to T20 cricket after a 14 month long gap but the fans would have to wait to see their talisman play in the shortest format for a little longer.

Rahul Dravid also justified Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the T20I squad with the former cricketer saying that Ishan Kishan wasn’t available for selection and Iyer was not taken in the team because of several options within the team.