Virat Kohli likely to be rested for Sri Lanka series

Mumbai: When the BCCI selection committee meets in Mumbai on Monday to pick teams for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand  the three-match Test series against touring Sri Lanka, the biggest decision chairman M.S.K. Prasad and Co. might take is regarding rest for captain Virat Kohli. If someone needs rest in the Indian squad, it is Kohli who has been playing non-stop. The skipper will surely get a breather if he confirms swirling reports about his impending marriage to Anushka Sharma in November.

It is highly likely that Kohli will sit out the T20I series against New Zealand, which will start from November 1 in New Delhi. The Lanka Test series will start at Eden Gardens from November 16.  

Kohli said on Saturday that they would rotate the players to give rest to key batsmen ahead of the overseas tours to South Africa and England, so it remains to be seen whether selectors will actually do that. Kohli himself is playing all three formats regularly and seems to tbbest candidate for some rest for T20I series.

K.L. Rahul may be retained in the T20 squad after Ajinkya Rahane was preferred over him in the ODI series as third opener. It will be the last series for Ashish Nehra who is set to announce his retirement. Whether front line spinners R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be recalled for T20I series or preserved for Test series against Sri Lanka will be the point of discussion in the meeting. No major changes are likely in the Test squad that beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in their backyard.