(Cricket News) At the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, head coach Rahul Dravid announced that Virat Kohli would miss the first Twenty20 International (T20I) against Afghanistan for personal reasons.

Kohli will be available for the next two matches, however, and Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings for India. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal played their last T20I match in November 2022.

Regarding the daring Rinku Singh and his prospects for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, Dravid stated, “We want Rinku to be a finisher, and he has started very well in international cricket. The IPL and the series against Afghanistan are platforms for him to develop.

When it comes to the World Cup, that will be done when it is time. But, if a player gives good performances, he catches the eye of the selectors.” India’s final three-match match before the T20 World Cup in June will provide the team with a clearer picture of their current situation.
Speaking about their preparations for the World Cup, Dravid stated, “We have prioritized certain formats and tournaments at different points in the last couple of years that I have been here because of the amount of cricket being played.

It is not possible for all the players to be playing all the time so we have always had to prioritize what is important, especially for the guys playing all three formats. There have been quite a few ICC events in the last few years and a lot of them were back-to-back. So, there has not been a lot of time in between these events.

The players will play T20 cricket here as well as in the IPL, so we may not get many opportunities to play together. “Obviously, for a large portion of last year and after the last T20 World Cup, we had to prioritize the One Day World Cup.

There are not a lot of games after the ODI World Cup in terms of the T20 format. So, this T20 World Cup is slightly different from that perspective in that there has not been a lot of time to prepare for it so we had to rely on the cricket we have and also a little bit on the IPL,” he continued.

After playing three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Afghanistan in Mohali, Indore, and Bangalore on January 11, 14, and 17, respectively, India will travel to Hyderabad to play the first leg of a five-match Test series against England, which begins on January 25.

The second Test will be played from February 2–6 in Visakhapatnam, the third from February 15–19 in Rajkot, the fourth from February 23–27 in Ranchi, and the fifth and final Test from Match 7–11 in Dharamsala.

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