IND vs ENG: What Could Be The Reasons Behind Virat Kohli’s Absence From Test Series? Here’s What We Know So Far

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Team India's talismanic batter Virat Kohli has been ruled of Test series against England while announcing the squad for remaining Tests in Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamshala on Saturday, February 10.

Kohli withdrew from initial Two tests in Hyderabad and Vizag due to personal reasons. The 35-year-old communicated to BCCI selectors and Team India captain Rohit Sharma for his reason behind withdrawal from Tests. The BCCI released the statement, urging everyone not to speculate the Kohli's personal reasons.

Following the second Test win against England, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid stated that the selectors were trying to connect with Kohli to know for his availability for the remaining matches of the series. This meant that Kohli wasn't in touch with anyone in the team during his break from cricket.

Though Virat Kohli's nature of personal reason behind the withdrawal from Test series is still uncertain as former India captain requested privacy, there have been several speculations doing rounds on social media.

Virat Kohli's mother's poor health condition

First speculation about Virat Kohli's withdrawal from Two Tests against England was that poor health condition of his mother. It was rumoured that Kohli's mother Saroj Kohli was battling with liver ailment and thus, he had to leave the squad and return home to be with his mother.

These rumours were rubbished by his elder brother Vikas Kohli on Instagram, stating that their mother is absolutely fine and implored everyone to authenticate the news before spreading it.

"Hello everyone. I have noticed that there is this fake news about out mom's health been circulating around." Virat Kohli's brother wrote on his Instagram story." Vikas wrote.

"Let me clear that our mom is absolutely fit and fine. Also I would request everyone and also the media, not to spread such news without proper information. Thanks everyone for your concern."

Anushka Sharma's pregnancy with 2nd child

Former South Africa batter and Kohli's RCB teammate AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel that Indian batter's wife Anushka Sharma is expecting second child, thus the reason behind his opting out of two Tests against England.

However, de Villiers took a big U-Turn on his earlier statement, saying that he made a terrible mistake by sharing a false information on Anushka Sharma's pregnancy.

In his YouTube Live, AB de Villiers openly apologized Virat Kohli and his family for a mistake on his part while urging everyone to respect his privacy.

"No one knows what exactly is going on. I am asking all of us to respect that. I did bit of a blunder in my previous show and I apologize to the Kohli family for that." former Royal Challengers Bangalore batter said.

"Just not nice. I shared information that was not confirmed at all so. I am begging everyone out there to respect him and his family and his private time. Hopefully, we will see Virat back, happy and scoring runs. Like he always does." he added.

Virat and Anushka left for abroad to consult a doctor

The latest speculations around Virat Kohli's absence from Test series against England is that Kohli and his Anushka Sharma left for London.

It has been reported that Anushka Sharma is having health issues, thus she and her cricketer husband decided to seek medical advice from doctor abroad. Journalist Abhishek Tripathi brought the matter to light through a tweet on X (formerly Twitter), citing sources close to the couple.

The journalist stated that decision for the power couple to consult a doctor abroad is due to the health issues that Anushka Sharma is experiencing. He added that Kohli's break from cricket was intended to support his family during this time.

Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma haven't spoken anything with regards to speculations. Kohli has been very strict when it comes to privacy and thus, he maintained tight lip on his personal matter.

We at Free Press Journal cannot confirm these speculations and but, we wish Virat Kohli and his family a healthy life.