India vs England Test Series: India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli has withdrawn his name for the first two test matches against England, according to a press release by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday, January 22. The BCCI stated that Kohli withdrew his name due to personal reasons that "demand his presence and undivided attention."

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The board also mentioned that they will announce replacements soon and urged the fans and media to respect Kohli's privacy and refrain from speculating about the exact reason for his break before the five-match test series that will start on Thursday, January 25 in Hyderabad.

The BCCI also mentioned that Kohli had discussed with skipper Rohit Sharma and the team management before making his decision. "Virat has spoken to Captain Rohit Sharma, the team management, and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention," the release stated.

Additionally, Shah stated that the BCCI fully supports its star player and has confidence in the team's ability to produce results even in the absence of its best batter: "The BCCI respects his decision, and the Board and team management has extended its support to the star batter and is confident in the abilities of the remaining squad members to step up and deliver commendable performances in the Test series."

In recent times, Kohli has skipped the first T20I match against Afghanistan due to "personal reasons." Prior to it, he had taken a short break during India's tour of South Africa, once more for private reasons. He missed an intra-squad practice match and left for London a few days after landing in South Africa. The last time he took a break during a test series that was not related to any injuries was for a paternity leave following the birth of his daughter Vamika in 2021.

The selectors are now speculating the possible replacements for the Kohli for the first two tests. Rajat Patidar, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Sarfaraz Khan are the frontrunners for this spot.  

Pujara started this year's Ranji Trophy with an unbeaten double-century against Jharkhand; however, the last test match that he played for India was in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final.

On the other hand, Patidar and Sarfaraz both competed and made an impression for India A against the England Lions (England A), who were on tour. In the first unofficial Test as well as the tour match against them, Patidar made centuries, and Sarfaraz finished with half-centuries in both, including 96 in the tour match.

India though does have Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill for the middle order, along with KL Rahul, who can play as a pure batter. From the England squad, Harry Brook withdrew from the entire tour, also because of personal reasons; however, he may rejoin the squad in later days.

India vs England Test Series: Match Schedule

1st Test: January 25 to January 29 in Hyderabad
2nd Test: February 2 to February 6 in Vizag
3rd Test: February 15 to February 19 in Rajkot
4th Test: February 23 to February 27 in Ranchi
5th Test: March 7 to March 11 in Dharamsala

India vs England Test Series: Squad Details

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan

England Squad: Ben Stokes (Captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood

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