Virat Kohli has yet to join the Indian team in Thiruvananthapuram, but the team management has maintained that he will join the squad soon. As of late* Monday evening (October 2), there was no information available regarding the star India batter linking up with other members of the Indian team. However, the management has consistently asserted that he will arrive in the Kerala city shortly.
A team official stated, “He will be arriving soon and should be available for selection in tomorrow’s game.” India are scheduled to play the Netherlands in the second and final warm-up game before they kick off their World Cup campaign in Chennai five days later.
As reported by Cricbuzz on Sunday, the Indian team flew directly to Thiruvananthapuram from Guwahati, while Kohli headed to Mumbai due to a family emergency. The team management has granted him leave. He was, however, expected to reach Thiruvananthapuram by Monday.
Meanwhile, the Indian team had an uninterrupted training session at the KCA – St. Xavier’s College Cricket Ground in the city on Monday afternoon. Since it was an optional training session, not every player attended. However, it was learned that KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj, among others, had a practice session for nearly two and a half hours.
The weather in Kerala seems to be improving, and the general expectation is that Tuesday’s match should proceed without too many interruptions. On Monday, the game between New Zealand and South Africa lasted for 87 overs before ending on a gloomy note, with New Zealand winning by seven runs on the DLS Method.
After Tuesday’s game, the team will fly to Chennai on Wednesday, while skipper Rohit Sharma will travel to Ahmedabad for the customary pre-World Cup Captains’ Day event. The World Cup starts on Thursday (October 5).
