Virat Kohli takes a break, to sit out white-ball games in South Africa | Cricket News

Virat Kohli, the highest run getter at the recently-concluded World Cup, will not be available for selection for the white-ball games during India’s tour of South Africa, which begins with a T20 International on December 10 in Durban.
Kohli has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of his decision to take a break. India will play three T20 internationals, three ODIs, followed two Test matches during the tour of South Africa.
Kohli, however, is set to feature in the Test matches, The Indian Express understands.

The national selection committee headed former India allrounder Ajit Agarkar will select the Indian team for all three formats in the coming days.
Kohli had a superb World Cup at home where he amassed 765 runs in 11 innings, including three hundreds. He was also adjudged as player of the tournament.
“He (Kohli) has informed the BCCI and selectors that he needs a break from white-ball cricket and he will get back to them about when he wants to play white ball cricket next. At the moment he has informed the BCCI that he will be playing red-ball cricket, which means he is available for selection for the two Test matches in South Africa,” a source said.
India coach Rahul Dravid talks to skipper Rohit Sharma after India lost the Cricket World Cup final to Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)
The first Test begins on Boxing Day at Centurion, and the second Test is at Cape Town.
Kohli is currently on holiday in London. He has been playing non-stop cricket for the past few months. The last time Kohli took a break was before the World Cup in September, where he along with captain Rohit Sharma were rested for the first two ODIs against Australia at home.
No clarity on Rohit
As on date, there is no clarity if Rohit — who captained the Indian team to 10 wins on the trot in the World Cup before the loss in the final — will be available for white-ball selection. Rohit too is in the United Kingdom on a break post the World Cup.

It is learnt that the BCCI secretary Jay Shah will be soon speaking to Rohit and chairman of selectors Agarkar to discuss the future roadmap.
Last year, Kohli took a break after the tour of England, sitting out of the two limited-over series — in the West Indies and Zimbabwe. On returning, he had spoken about how the break did him a world of good as he was trying to ‘fake his intensity’.
“For the first time in 10 years, I didn’t touch my bat for a month. I haven’t done that ever in my life. I came to the realisation that I was trying to kind of fake my intensity a bit recently. ‘I can do it, you’re competitive’, you’re convincing yourself you have the intensity but your body is telling you to stop, your mind is telling you to just take a break and step back. And it’s packed, I understand what Ravi bhai (Ravi Shastri) has mentioned, he’s mentioned about the volume of cricket and of how I’ve played 40 or 50% more than anyone in the last ten years. So it’s very easy to ignore these things (because) you’re fit, you’re working hard on yourself’, Kohli told Star Sports.
During the World Cup, Kohli not only equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI mark of 49 centuries but broke the record. Kohli scored centuries against Bangladesh (103 n.o.), South Africa (101*) and New Zealand (117). He scored 54 off 63 balls in the final, a game Australia won six wickets. Kohli broke Tendulkar’s record during the game against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium.
“I mean, it’s very difficult for me to explain this, but if I could paint the perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most, she’s sitting there. My hero, he’s sitting there. And I was able to get the 50th in front of all of them and all these fans at Wankhede as well, such a horic venue. It was amazing,” Kohli had said.