Virat Kohli staying away from 2 Tests shocks fans, may open window of opportunity for Shreyas Iyer

Virat Kohli staying away from 2 Tests shocks fans, may open window of opportunity for Shreyas Iyer

A day after the visiting England cricket team was coming to terms with the withdrawal of their aggressive batsman Harry Brook for the Test series due to “personal reasons," cricket fans received another jolt about the Indian cricket team having to do without the services of batting ace Virat Kohli for the first two tests for the same reasons.

Just after the completion of the joyous occasion of the Pran Pratishthan of Ram Lalla on January 22 afternoon in Ayodhya came the advisory from the Indian cricket board, which informed about Kohli's absence. It said, “Virat Kohli has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to be withdrawn from the first two Tests of the upcoming IDFC First Bank Test series against England, citing personal reasons."

Virat has spoken to Captain Rohit Sharma, the team management, and the selectors and has emphasised that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention,” it added.

It is indeed a setback for India, as fans were eagerly waiting for a faceoff between Kohli, who ranks sixth in the Test format, and the second-ranked Joe Root in the series starting in Hyderabad on January 25.

With only 152 shy of 9,000 Test runs and an average of 49.15, the 35-year-old Kohli, who bats at No. 4 in the line-up, has an impressive record against England, especially at home. His experience was something that the Indian team was banking on against the Englishmen, who will seek to break India’s winning streak of 16 Test series wins at home.

Kohli, who has played three Test series against England at home — 2012-13, 2016-17 and 2020–21 — has an average of 56.38 against them, with three centuries and four fifties. He is vital to the Indian scheme of things as he holds the team together, repairs any early damage, and bats deep taking the lower-order batsmen around him.

Kohli’s liking for England’s bowling, especially at home, is proved by the fact that his third-highest Test score of 235 came against them in Mumbai in 2016-17, the season where he could do no wrong.

India will dearly miss Kohli, especially in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, the two centres where he loves to score big runs and has done that before. In the four Tests in Hyderabad, he averaged 75.80, having smashed 204 against Bangladesh in 2017. In the two Tests in Vizag, he had an even better average of 99.67, having scored 167 and 81 against England in the inaugural Test at this venue in 2016-17.

Former India chief selector and wicketkeeper Kiran More told Moneycontrol that Kohli’s absence for the first two Tests “would definitely impact the Indian team.” However, he added that this was an opportunity for a youngster to make himself count and bat responsibly like Kohli.

“Batting at No. 4, he holds the key, builds the innings, and gets the big hundreds. Having said that, this is an opportunity for a youngster to prove himself. We do have good players to fill in the shoes of Kohli. Kohli’s record speaks for itself; he is a legend and a big-impact player. It is a huge loss. England is not a team that will go down easily. They are a strong side, love playing Test cricket, and don’t like to lose,” said More.

The national selection committee would name a replacement for Kohli. This could most likely be Shreyas Iyer, who is in the original squad of 16. He will bat at No. 4 in place of Kohli. While there were question marks about Iyer being a sure selection in the playing 11 when Kohli was available, it was reported that KL Rahul would not keep wickets on Indian pitches. This brings in KS Bharath as the specialist wicketkeeper, who would bat at No. 7.

That meant that with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal opening and Shubman Gill at No. 3, Kohli at 4, Rahul at 5, and Ravindra Jadeja at 6, followed by Bharath, the axe was most likely to fall on Iyer. With Kohli’s absence, Iyer gets a chance to redeem himself. This could be the best chance for the Mumbai right-hander, who began his Test career with a century on debut, but in the five Tests since the start of last year, he has notched up just 83 runs at an average of 11.86.

While one may think that the withdrawal of Kohli from the first two Tests and of Brook for the entire series evens out, comparisons can’t be made as Kohli is a 113-Test veteran and a great of the game, while Brook has played only 12 Tests and never in India. Brook, though, began his Test career brilliantly, scoring a century in each of the three Tests on his maiden overseas tour to Pakistan in 2022-23 and promising a lot in India before his sudden withdrawal.

“Both Kohli and Brook are quality players, impact players. Both teams have backup players. As a team, you have to alter your squad according to the situation, and both India and England are well suited to do that,” More added.

England has named Dan Lawrence as Brook’s replacement. The 26-year-old right-hander has the experience of playing in India, having turned out in three Tests in 2020-21, accumulating 149 runs at an average of 24.83 and scoring one fifty.