Former India captain Virat Kohli has taken a detour from Guwahati back to Mumbai to meet his wife Anushka Sharma ahead of Team India’s ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 second warm-up match against Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. India’s first game against England was washed out without a ball getting bowled in Guwahati on Saturday.
There is speculation in the media that Kohli and his Bollywood star wife Anushka Sharma are expecting their second child, three years after his daughter Vamika was born. The rest of the Team India squad has landed in Thiruvananthapuram, albeit without their star batsman – Virat Kohli – due to a personal emergency, according to a Cricbuzz report.
“A source from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that he went to Mumbai for personal reasons. Virat will rejoin the team soon,” a BCCI source was confirmed as saying by Cricbuzz website. The other Team India cricketers arrived in the Kerala city after a four-hour flight on a special aircraft on Sunday evening.
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With the team’s arrival in Thiruvananthapuram for a second warm-up match against the Netherlands on Tuesday, inclement weather seemed to trail them, continuing from extreme east to the south. The first preparatory match against world champions England was washed out due to rain, with not a single ball being bowled, raising doubts that the forthcoming game may encounter a similar fate.
Intermittent rain pervaded the city on Sunday, creating unfavorable conditions. Nonetheless, a practice session is planned for Monday, contingent upon weather feasibility. “Team India will have an optional training session from 2 PM onwards at the KCA – St Xavier’s College Cricket Ground, Thiruvananthapuram, weather permitting, Thiruvananthapuram,” the BCCI spokesperson was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Till now, rain has interfered with three matches, with two in Thiruvananthapuram involving South Africa and Afghanistan on September 29. The match between Australia and the Netherlands on September 30 was abbreviated to 23 overs but remained incomplete. Before India’s match against the Netherlands on Tuesday, New Zealand and South Africa are scheduled to play on Monday.
India’s World Cup 2023 journey begins against Australia in Chennai on October 8. The tournament inaugurates on October 5 with the last World Cup finalists – England and New Zealand – competing in Ahmedabad.
