Visakhapatnam: After giving it their all over the last fortnight, both India and England will depart for a short break before they resume their fight next week in what promises to be cracking five-match Test series.
Members of the Indian team will fly back to their respective homes, or wherever they wish to, and have been asked to assemble in Rajkot on February 11 or 12 for the third Test which starts on Feb 15.
The England team will head back to Abu Dhabi where they trained prior to the series and are scheduled to return on Feb 12.
Meanwhile, there is still some uncertainty over the availability of Virat Kohli for the third Test. The former skipper chose to skip the first two Tests due to ‘personal reasons’ and is believed to be out of the country.
Kohli’s close friend AB de Villiers, speaking in his YouTube channel, "inadvertently" revealed that the Delhiite and his actress-wife Anushka Sharma are expecting their second child although the couple has stayed mum on it.
When asked if Kohli will play the third Test, head coach Rahul Dravid curtly said only the selectors can answer it. “I think it's best to ask the selectors once the team will be selected for the next three games. I'm sure they're the best people to answer that. We'll get to that. I'm sure there'll be a selection (meeting) over the next few days and we'll connect with them.”
India missed Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul in the second Test owing to injuries they suffered in the opener in Hyderabad. While Jadeja hurt his hamstring, Rahul felt pain in his right quadriceps. Jadeja may end up missing the entire series while there is a strong possibility of Rahul recovering in time for the third Test.
India will also be hoping the finger injury to Shubman Gill is not bad. Gill hurt his right index finger while fielding on the second day of the second Test here and did not take the field on the fourth day although he batted on the third day, scoring a century.
Published 05 February 2024, 15:53 IST