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"Virat Will Only Play If...": Report On Kohli's Return For England Tests

The return of premier batter Virat Kohli to the Indian team for the remainder of the Test series against England still remains unclear even as the bigwigs are mulling to have a word with the former captain about his plans at the earliest. Kohli is currently out of the country and it is understood that selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar or the BCCI's top brass will speak to him to get a clearer picture to find out whether he is in a position to resume national duty.

Kohli had taken a sabbatical from the first two Tests against England, citing personal reasons.

"Family comes first as BCCI's press release stated and Virat will only play if he feels that he is in a position to play," a BCCI source in know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The personal reason for which Kohli opted out of the Tests is the impending arrival of his second child, as revealed by his close friend and former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers on his YouTube channel.

De Villiers said Kohli has done absolutely the right thing by taking a break.

"Yes, his second child is on the way. It's family time and things are important to him. If you are not true and genuine to yourself, you lose track of what you are here for.

I think most people's priority is family. You can't judge Virat for that. Yes, we miss him. But he has made absolutely the right decision," said De Villiers.

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who have been struggling for big runs, will have to step up in the second innings of the ongoing Test against England in Visakhapatnam because KL Rahul could get fit in time for the third Test starting on February 14 in Rajkot.

The squad for the remaining three Tests against England will be named next week after the conclusion of the second Test.

Shreyas, Gill on notice as Rahul to return?

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who have been struggling for big runs in red ball format, will have to buckle up and score some runs when their turn to bat come in India's second innings at Vizag.

If they fail to do so, KL Rahul could walk in for one of them in the third Test. Rahul missed the second Test with a quadriceps injury but the word is that the Bengaluru man could be for the next match at Rajkot from February 15.

Both Iyer and Gill haven't scored a single fifty in their last nine Test innings and time is running out for both of them with the red hot Sarfaraz Khan is sitting in the dug-out and Rahul's quadricep problem getting better with each passing day.

Cloud over Shami, Jadeja

However, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja could not figure in the Test series against England.

Shami was not considered for the series while Jadeja suffered a hamstring strain during the first Test at Hyderabad and he was ruled out of the on-going second Test.

"As of now there is little or no chance that Mohammed Shami (who is in the UK for ankle treatment) and Ravindra Jadeja will be fit for the remainder of the series.

In the case of Rahul, he is getting better and a gap of a week between second and third Test will also help him getting match-ready," the source said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Ishant Sharma Set To Play For Delhi Against Baroda In Ranji Trophy

Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma will be walking into the playing XI as Delhi's pace attack gets ready to ask probing questions to a gritty Baroda in their fifth Ranji Trophy Group D match starting at the Palam Ground from Friday. Ishant, the seasoned speedster with 100 plus Tests, is committed to playing Delhi's home games and the player to sit out could be Prince Yadav. The cold, damp weather in Delhi will aid seam bowlers despite the Air Force ground in Palam being a flat deck.

If there is no sunshine and the moisture underneath the surface doesn't dry quickly enough, Ishant, although well past his prime, along with Navdeep Saini and Himanshu Chauhan, will be a handful for the likes of Shivalik Sharma.

The mere presence of Ishant in the team adds a sound cricketing mind who can help young skipper Himmat Singh in decision making.

He was not in the best the of form versus Puducherry but would certainly look to make amends for that opening game loss.

The match was supposed to be played at Feroz Shah Kotla but the ground is now being prepared for the Women's Premier League (WPL).

The come-from-behind victory against Uttarakhand in Mohali has certainly boosted the morale of the team and there is still a fair chance for Himmat Singh's men to make it to the quarter-final if they to register three outright wins in a row starting with game against Baroda.

The skipper himself has proved to be an inspiration with his match-winning 194 after Delhi were reduced to 14 for 5 in the second innings against Uttarakhand but it was a one-off freak effort which can't be expected to happen every time.

In order to remain relevant, Delhi would pray that the weather opens up making it a good batting deck and the batters at least try and perform up to expectations.

Ayush Badoni, the team's designated vice captain, was dropped from 15 in the last game at the expense of Delhi cricket's most controversial pick, Kshitiz Sharma.

With scores of 8 and 0 and having failed to look like a batter who deserves to play elite group first-class cricket, it would be interesting to see if he retains his place in the eleven.

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Prithvi Shaw To Return In Ranji Trophy After Recovering From Knee Injury

India batter Prithvi Shaw to make his comeback to competitive cricket after being included in Mumbai's squad for the upcoming 2023-24 Ranji Trophy. In August 2023, the 24-year-old batter suffered a knee injury during his county stint with Northamptonshire. Following that he went through surgery in London and then went to three months of rehabilitation. Earlier, Prithvi received a green signal from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to take part in competitive cricket, following which he was included in the Mumbai squad.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Prithvi recovered from injury a lot earlier but NCA's medical panel head Nitin Patel wanted the 24-year-old to go through skill-based workloads and high-intensity mobility drills before giving him a clearance certificate.

After being added to the squad, Prithvi said that he can't do anything about the past and now has to move on.

"Those few innings [at the start of IPL 2023] went in a flash. [While] I kept thinking about the first match, I quickly realised three matches had passed. The learning was once the match is done, just leave it there. You can't do anything about it, it's history. You have to keep moving forward," Prithvi said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

After winning three of four games in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Mumbai are at the top place of Group B.

Mumbai squad: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Shivam Dube, Prithvi Shaw, Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal. Suved Parkar, Prasad Pawar (Wk), Hardik Tamore (Wk), Suryansh Shedge, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Aditya Dhumal, Mohit Awasthi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Roystan Dias and Sylvester Dsouza.

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