Am available for South Africa one-day series: Kohli

INDIA Test captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday (15) buried speculations to confirm that he will play the three-match one-day international series in South Africa in January. Also on the subject of him losing the captaincy in the one-day internationals, Kohli said he was conveyed the same just one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting for the Test squad for the South Africa tour happened on December 8.

It was reported earlier that the 33-year-old batter sought a break from the 50-over series due to family commitments. A senior source in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Tuesday (14) that Kohli had not come up with any such request.

ALSO READ: Kohli hasn't made official request for break yet: BCCI official

What added fuel to the speculations is the news that Rohit Sharma, who is India’s new captain in the limited-over formats, is ruled out of the Test series in South Africa which will take place ahead of the one-day matches due to a hamstring injury. It was alleged that the two batters were locked in a battle of ego after Kohli lost his captaincy in the 50-over format to Sharma.

Kohli set to miss South Africa one-day series: reports

India Test captain Virat Kohli with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

“I was and I am available for selection all the time. I never communicated with BCCI asking for rest. I am available for the ODI series in South Africa, and was always available,” Kohli, who will lead India in the Tests, said during the pre-departure press conference before the tour of South Africa.

“It should be asked to people who are writing lies. My communication with the BCCI on this issue has not happened that I want to rest,” he added.       Over the last two days, speculation has been rife that not all is well between Kohli and Test vice-captain Rohit, who will not play the Tests due to a hamstring injury.

Responding to the endless chatter, Kohli said, “A lot of things that happen on the outside are not ideal and not always how one expects them to be.

“But you have to understand there’s only so much that you can do as an individual and we have to do the things that you can as an individual, in my control show. I'm very focused and very mentally prepared,” he said.

Kohli led India in South Africa in all three formats the last time the Asian team toured that country in 2017-18. While India defeated the home team 5-1 in the 50-over format and 2-1 in the T20s, they lost the Test series 1-2.

South Africa remains the only country where India are yet to win a Test series.

'Was contacted just 1.5 hours before selection meeting'

On him losing the one-day captaincy, Kohli said no prior communication took place between him and the selectors. According to him, he was contacted just one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting took place on December 8.

"Whatever was said about the communication that happened during the decision that was made was inaccurate. I was contacted one and half hours before the selection meeting on 8th for the Test series," Kohli said while replying to a query from Asian News International.

"And there was no prior communication with me since I announced the T20I captaincy decision up till December 8. The chief selector discussed the Test team to which we both agreed. Before ending the call, I was told the five selectors decided that I would not be told that I will not be ODI captain. Which I replied ‘okay fine’,” he added.

“And in the selection call afterwards we chatted about it briefly. This is what happened, there was no communication prior to that at all,” he said.