Cricket News: Virat Kohli has been officially ruled out of the ODI series against Afghanistan starting from June 13. Kohli had to be out due to injury. The BCCI selection committee has given a chance to young opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Indian team in place of Kohli for the Afghan ODI series.
Virat Kohli played an unbeaten and match-winning inning of 75 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final of IPL 2026. Kohli was seen struggling with fitness problems during the innings. His right hamstring injury became aggravated during the final. Since then there was doubt about his playing in the ODI series. Let us tell you that Virat now plays only ODIs in international cricket.
Kohli’s injury increased during IPL final
Speaking at a press conference held at the BCCI headquarters on Saturday, Agarkar said, “Less than a week has passed since he got injured in the IPL final. The time frame is not known right now. It seems that he can be fit for the ODI matches against England. There is no time frame received from the physio regarding his fitness.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal got a chance in Team India
Left-handed batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was included in the Indian team in place of Virat Kohli, played his last ODI against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on December 6, 2025. In this match, Jaiswal played an unbeaten inning of 116 runs in 121 balls. This was his first century in the ODI format. Yashasvi has scored 171 runs in 4 innings of 4 ODI matches with the help of 1 century.
Suspense on fitness of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
Playing of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in the ODI series will depend on their fitness test. Before the ODI series, both will have to pass a fitness test. Hardik has been undergoing rehab at the BCCI Center of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru since June 2. He was also out of some matches of IPL 2026 due to a back injury.
Rohit Sharma will report to the COE for fitness clearance in the next two-three days. Rohit also had to stay out of some matches in IPL 2026 due to a hamstring injury. “We follow the normal procedure for injured players. We are waiting for his final fitness clearance,” Agarkar said. 3 ODIs will be played against Afghanistan on 13, 17 and 20 June.