Virat Kohli, who was picked for the Indian T20I team for the Afghanistan series for the first time since November 2022 will not play the first game on Thursday due to personal reasons.

Kohli, who along with Rohit Sharma, were the surprise picks in India’s last T20I series before the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA, will not play the first game in Mohali on January 11 after opting out.

Rahul Dravid confirmed the news during the pre-match press conference. According to reports, Kohli, who had made himself available for the T20I series, has reportedly not flown to Mohali with the team, skipping the first T20I due to personal reasons. He is expected to play the last two T20Is, on January 14 and January 17.

Confirming that Rohit-Yashasvi Jaiswal will open in the absence of Kohli, Dravid said, “Just a quick one – Virat Kohli will miss the game due to personal reasons. He will be playing in the second and third T20.”

Virat Kohli, India’s biggest match-winner in T20Is. 💪 pic.twitter.com/P4WDqJgHwO

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) January 10, 2024

Kohli last played a T20I in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup in 2022 against England, scoring a 40-ball 50 in India’s ten-wicket defeat. Since then, both Rohit and Kohli have stayed away from the format, instead looking to focus on ODIs keeping in mind the 50-over World Cup.

Kohli has recently taken multiple breaks midway through a competition. He first flew back to Mumbai ahead of India’s warm-up game against the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram due to a personal emergency. Last month, he missed India’s intra-squad warm-up game in South Africa after flying home due to personal issues as well.

Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.