Kohli to miss ODI series in South Africa?

Virat Kohli is likely to miss the ODI series in South Africa as he is taking a break at the end of the Test series.

Kohli will lead India in the three-match Test series against South Africa, which starts on December 26, but has reportedly informed the BCCI that he will skip the three-match ODI series, starting on January 19.

"Kohli had informed the Indian cricket board (BCCI) in advance that he would take a break in early January. Since the ODI series coincides with the first birthday of his daughter, Kohli had communicated that he could not participate in the One-day series," said a report in the Times of India.

Kohli's daughter Vamika was born on January 11 this year and the India Test captain is likely to celebrate his daughter's birthday after the conclusion of the third and final Test in South Africa, to be played from January 11 to 15.

Kohli was recently removed as India's ODI captain with Rohit Sharma appointed in his place.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had revealed why the selectors had decided to replace Kohli with Rohit as India's captain in the 50-overs format.

"Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but, obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats," Ganguly said.

"So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I, as President, personally spoke to Virat Kohli; so did the chairman of selectors.

"We have full faith in Rohit Sharma's leadership abilities, and Virat will continue as the Test captain. We are confident that Indian cricket is in good hands. We thank Virat Kohli for his contributions as captain in the white-ball format," the BCCI president added.

Interestingly, both Kohli and Rohit won't be playing with each other for now as the latter has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series in South Africa because of injury.