Unfortunate – Virat Kohli opens for the first time on cancelled fifth Test match

The Indian captain Virat Kohli feels the cancellation of the fifth Test match was an unfortunate event after Covid-19 concerns in the Indian camp.

It has been reported that Kohli had written a mail to the BCCI highlighting the team’s inability to field a team after their junior physio Yogesh Parmar was tested positive for the virus.

Kohli is hopeful that a secure bio bubble environment will be maintained in the UAE for the second phase of the IPL. The talisman joined RCB with fast bowler Mohammed Siraj on Sunday after they flew in charted planes.

“Unfortunate that we had to end up here early, but with COVID in place, things are very uncertain. Anything can happen at any time,” Kohli said in ‘RCB Bold Diaries’ series on RCB Digital Media Platforms.

“Hopefully, we’re able to maintain a good, strong, and secure environment, and have a quality IPL. It’s going to be an exciting phase and a very important one for us at RCB and then for the Indian team at the T20 World Cup,” he said.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore were able to rope in players like Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Tim David, George Garton, and Akash Deep after players like Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams, Finn Allen, Kane Richardson, and Washington Sundar were either unavailable or injured. Kohli is mighty impressed with RCB’s replacements.

Kohli said, “I’ve been in touch with everyone. We’ve had discussions over the last month or so, a little longer than that with the replacements, who’s coming and who’s not.

“Eventually, we ended up replacing our key players with some top-quality cricketers. Our key players will be missed, and they are a part of the family, but the people coming in as well have great skill sets, especially for these conditions. So, I’m very excited to see them, with the whole group at practice, and certainly very excited to resume a very good season that started last time around.”

Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj was also excited to join RCB as he has taken an upward swing in his career. RCB will resume its campaign against KKR in Abu Dhabi on 20th September.