5 times Virat Kohli was rested in recent times

#2 Afghanistan Test 2018

The Indian team welcomed the Afghans, one of the two newest faces in Test cricket, for a one-off game earlier this year. Kohli, however, decided to skip the game and go for a county stint with Essex ahead of the England tour, in a bid to fine-tune his skills.

There was huge clamour regarding Kohli's absence, with people questioning him skipping a historic Test for a county stint. The BCCI had come out and clarified, with Amitabh Choudhary, the BCCI’s acting-secretary, defending Kohli's actions:

“There was no intention not to play him. It was only because the English challenge is something we have to rise to, to the satisfaction of the entire cricket fraternity of this country, that Virat will abstain for the right reasons.”

The Indian team won the match by an innings and 262 runs.