India to rest Kohli before SA tour
new delhi — India’s captain and star batsman Virat Kohli will be rested for the one-day matches against Sri Lanka after the ongoing Test series ends, selectors said on Monday.
Kohli has stepped up calls in recent weeks for a break from cricket because of a packed calendar. India, the world’s top Test nation, start a demanding tour of South Africa in January.
“I’m not a robot, you can slice my skin and check if I still bleed,” Kohli said before the Sri Lanka series started.
He has played more international cricket in 2017 than any other Indian player — nine Tests, 26 oneday internationals and 10 T20s.
The squad for India’s tour of South Africa is expected to be named later this week.
India will go into the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in New Delhi on Saturday with Kohli leading the squad that hammered the visitors in the second Test.
The return of batsman Shikhar Dhawan is the only change.
Kohli will be replaced as captain by batsman Rohit Sharma for the three-match one day series after the Tests.
Sharma is expected to remain captain for the T20 games too, as Kohli rests and prepares for the South Africa tour.
Meanwhle, Cheteshwar Pujara, who himself is an epitome of consistency, was all praise for Kohli.
Pujara said, Kohli not only piles on Test hundreds but also scores them at a brisk pace making it difficult for most of his peers to match, concedes
Four Indian batsmen scored hundreds in the second Test against Srai Lanka but it was no-brainer that Kohli stood head and shoulders above the rest. “I think it’s his confidence and way he is batting, in last two to three years, it would have been difficult for any other batsman to score at such a strike rate,” Pujara said in a glowing tribute to his captain’s capabilities.
Pujara said that it was a “difficult pitch” not from batting perspective but certainly when it came to scoring runs.” —