The last time Virat Kohli played a cricket match was in first half of January during India’s third T20I against Afghanistan.
Bengaluru: Virat Kohli made his first appearance on a cricket field after more than two months as the former Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper was caught playing football with teammate Glenn Maxwell during their team’s training at the MA Chinnaswamy Stadium. Although RCB have started their training, they are yet to make it official.
Kohli, last played a cricket match during India’s third T20I against Afghanistan in January. Thereafter, he had initially withdrawn from the first two Test matches against England citing personal reasons. He then opted out from remainder of the Test series for the birth of his Akaay.
Virat Kohli playing Football with Glen Maxwell in RCB camp, Bengaluru #RCBUnboxpic.twitter.com/DhF8fMITUD
— Lokesh Saini🚩 (@LokeshVirat18K) March 18, 2024
Although, Kohli didn’t reveal the exact reason of his absence from the England series, his wife Anushka Sharma’s social post media post about Akaay’s birth cleared all the air surrounding her husband. It is believed that Anushka gave birth to Akaay in UK and both the mother and the son are still there.
Kohli arrived in India on Sunday night in Mumbai before catching a flight to Bengaluru on the same day to join his teammates. He was donning a white T-shirt with a cartoon illustration at the back having the word ‘Dad’ written on it.
As far as the team for IPL 2024 is concerned, RCB added a few notable names to add to their pace battery. They spent Rs 11.50 crore for West Indies pacer Alzaari Joseph and also acquired the services of New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson for Rs 2 crore.
As far as player trading is concerned, RCB let go Bengal’s Shahbaz Ahmed to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Himachal Pradesh all-rounder Mayank Dagar. They also gave Mumbai Indians Rs 15 crore for the services of hard-hitting Australian all-rounder Cameron Green.
Players RCB Bought At IPL 2024 Auction: Alzarri Joseph (Rs. 11.50 crore), Yash Dayal (Rs. 5 crore), Tom Curran (Rs. 1.5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs. 2 crore), Swapnil Singh (Rs. 20 lakh), Saurav Chauhan (Rs. 20 lakh).
RCB Full Squad For IPL 2024: Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar (from SRH), Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green (from MI).