Why Kohli will sit out of T20 opener Vs Afghanistan

Virat Kohli set to miss T20I series opener due to personal reasons, confirms head coach Rahul Dravid

India's star batter Virat Kohli will miss the first T20 International against Afghanistan owing to "personal reasons", head coach Rahul Dravid said in Mohali on Wednesday.

Virat miss the game on Thursday due to personal reasons, Dravid said at the start of the media interaction.

The former India captain will be available for the next two matches of the three-match series, Dravid said, adding, "Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma will be opening the innings" for India in the series opener on Thursday.

Both Rohit and Kohli are returning to the T20 format after 14 months.

Kohli last played in the shortest format in November 2022, his last game being India's semifinal loss to England during the T20 World Cup in Australia.