Virat Kohli, KL Rahul to miss next round of Ranji Trophy due to niggles: Report

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will be unavailable for Delhi and Karnataka, respectively, for the next round of the Ranji Trophy set to kick off on January 23 following the conclusion of white-ball tournaments Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Following the head coach Gautam Gambhir's directive in the press conference following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, several of the Indian Test players are set to feature in the domestic red-ball competition after the batting debacle in Australia.

While the suspense remains over Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma for Mumbai, Shubman Gill (Punjab), Rishabh Pant (Delhi) and Ravindra Jadeja (Saurashtra) are set to play the next round of the tournament. As per ESPNCricinfo, Kohli had neck pain following the Sydney Test against Australia and took an injection on January 8. Kohli has still not recovered from the same and has communicated to the BCCI medical staff.

Similarly, Rahul had an elbow issue and



hasn't made himself available for Karnataka's fixture against Punjab. The next round of matches begins on January 30 but with the games ending close to the start of the England ODI series, would BCCI want to rush their premier batters before a sizeable run of 50-over matches?

With the senior batters struggling for runs against Australia and in the home series against New Zealand and the likes of Shubman Gill not hitting straps yet, the batting resources in red-ball cricket have come under the scanner for the Indian team ahead of the England tour in June.

The BCCI is set to announce India's Champions Trophy squad on Saturday, January 18 with chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma set to address the press conference. The suspense remains over a few spots, the status of Jasprit Bumrah's injury, the backup batter, the third spinner and if not Bumrah, then who? India are set to play five T20Is and three ODIs against England before the ICC event.