Why Virat Kohli is not playing today: India have made four changes from their last ODI in West Indies last month.
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During the first ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of Zimbabwe in Harare, India captain KL Rahul has won the toss and chose to bowl in their first ODI in and against Zimbabwe in the last six years.
“We will bowl first. Looks like a good wicket. It’s an early start, so could have a bit of moisture. Good opportunity to bowl first and exploit the first hour. A lot of guys have got opportunities, good chance to challenge yourself and your skills. Looking forward to a good show,” Rahul told the host broadcaster at the toss.
Much like his counterpart, Zimbabwe captain Regis Chakabva also wanted to bowl first at the Harare Sports Club today. Chakabva, 34, hoped to sort out a pressing issue around top-order collapses in this series.
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“We would have bowled first as well but this looks like a good wicket and will stay true for the rest of the day. It [top-order collapse] is something we’ve spoken about, looking to sort it out,” Chakabva told the host broadcaster at the toss.
Why Virat Kohli is not playing today vs Zimbabwe?
India, whose last ODI was in West Indies just over three weeks ago, have made four changes to their Playing XI from that match. Batter Ishan Kishan, Rahul, pacer Deepak Chahar and spinner Kuldeep Yadav are four like-for-like replacements for Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal.
While Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Chahal aren’t part of a 16-member squad for this tour, Thakur has been left out to accommodate Chahar. Playing a representative match after almost six months, Chahar was always expected to be given a go in this match.
Much like the aforementioned trio, regular captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli have also been rested for this tour. The pair will return during Asia Cup 2022 beginning later this month.
Kohli, who has been rested a lot amid an elongated stretch of poor form this year, has an exceptional record against Zimbabwe. In eight ODIs against Zimbabwe, Kohli’s 253 runs have come at an average and strike rate of 50.60 and 86.94 respectively. In seven ODIs in Zimbabwe, Kohli has scored 215 runs at an average and strike rate of 53.75 and 88.47 respectively.
