Virat Kohli to captain India in first Test against Australia

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has been confirmed as the Indian captain for the first Test against Australia at Adelaide, with MS Dhoni yet to return to full fitness following a thumb injury which kept him out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka last month.

Kohli was named as captain of the side for the first Test match which was initially scheduled for December 4 at Brisbane, but was later postponed following the death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes.

Hughes was hit by a Sean Abbott bouncer in a domestic game at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on 25 November and sadly passed away two days later in hospital. With the South Australian’s funeral taking place on 3 December, Cricket Australia and BCCI jointly decided to push back the first Test.

Dhoni, who is the current permanent captain of the Indian team in all three formats of the game, joined the team on Friday and took part in training yesterday. The Ranchi-born lad looked comfortable and many thought he would be fit to take the field at the Adelaide Oval tomorrow.

Coincidentally, the last Test Dhoni missed was also at Adelaide, in January 2012. With the 33-year-old unfit, Wriddhiman Saha is all set to take up the gloves and play in what will be the 3^rd Test of his career. The Bengal wicket-keeper has scored 74 runs at an average of 18.50 in the two Tests he has played so far.