India are playing the ongoing Test series against England without their talisman Virat Kohli who is missing the action due to personal reasons. He had joined the team ahead of the first Test in Hyderabad and had also attended the practice session before leaving the camp by informing the BCCI and has since then, completely away from the limelight.
The BCCI has respected his decision to miss the Test series and in its release, also urged to not speculate regarding his absence. Meanwhile, England skipper Ben Stokes has also opened up on Kohli's absence and feels that it shouldn't be labelled as anything for England. He highlighted that the cricketer is away due to personal reasons and one should respect his decision while also wishing Kohli the best hoping that he returns to the field soon.
"I don't mean to say anything disrespectful to the question. I think when it's situations like these, when someone is missing a big series and a lot of cricket due to personal reasons, which we are not sure of, we shouldn't label that as positive or negative to our team," Stokes said in a video posted by ECB.
Moreover, Stokes who will play his 100th Test in Rajkot also stated that the former India skipper not playing is a huge loss for cricket. "We should just let it be. It's a broader loss for cricket. I wish Virat whatever he is going through all the best, I wish he comes through it. Virat Kohli, on a cricket field, is something that everybody wants to see," the English skipper added.
