India’s talismanic batter Virat Kohli had to reportedly fly back to Mumbai from Guwahati because of reported ‘personal emergency’ while the rest of the Indian squad arrived in Trivandrum for their second warm-up game against the Netherlands. Though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t given any confirmed if Kohli will miss the warm-up game, a report claims that the star batter will return in time for the Netherlands clash and join his teamamtes on October 02.

Kohli remains one of the pillars in the Indian team. Though the Netherlands warm-up game isn’t of absolute importance, the batter would want to get some runs under his belt considering the last match against England was abandoned due to rain.

“A source from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that he went to Mumbai for personal reasons. Virat will rejoin the team soon,” Cricbuzz quoted a source as saying.

It isn’t yet known what the personal emergency is but the expectations are that Virat would be back with the team in time.

Also Read: Virat Kohli: ‘Those angry celebrations are a thing of the past’

Kohli only featured for India in one of the three ODIs against Australia in a recently-concluded series. The batter showed form in the 3rd ODI, scoring 56 runs although the Indian team suffered defeat in the contest.

Kohli didn’t enjoy the best of phase in his cricketing career over the last 3 years. But, the year 2023 saw him return to his best. The batter has been scoring runs for fun once again, in time for the ODI World Cup campaign

“The last two and a half years have taught me a lot. Those angry celebrations are a thing of the past. I have had many suggestions, lots of advice has come my way; people were telling me I was doing this wrong, that wrong,” Kohli said, as per ICC.

“I picked out all the videos from the best time I had, same initial movement, same approach towards the ball and it was just what was happening inside my head, I wasn’t able to explain it to anyone,” he added.

In the upcoming Cricket World Cup, Kohli could go on to cement his place in history by breaking a few more all-time records.

After a recent video of India’s World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev being handcuffed emerged on social media, former cricketer Gautam Gambhir had raised concerns over the well being of the latter. In the video, Dev was being forcibly led into a room by two unidentified men. Netizens, including Gambhir, questioned the nature of this video as to whether it is a genuine footage or could it be an elaborate advertising stunt? However, Gambhir took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to reveal the context behind the video.

“Anyone else received this clip, too? Hope it’s not actually @therealkapildev and that Kapil Paaji is fine!,” Gambhir had posted on X.

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It has now been clarified that the video was part of a promo shoot for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India.

“Areh @therealkapildev paaji well played! Acting ka World Cup bhi aap hi jeetoge! Ab hamesha yaad rahega ki ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is free on @DisneyPlusHS mobile,” Gambhir posted on Tuesday.

Kapil Dev started his international career in October 1978 against Pakistan.

Dev played 131 Test matches for India, scoring 5,248 runs and he also picked up 438 wickets in the longest format of the game.

In One-Day Internationals, the all-rounder represented the country in 225 games.

He picked up 253 wickets and smashed 3,783 runs. Dev scored just one century in the limited overs format — the famous knock of 175 that came against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup.

In the same tournament, Kapil Dev’s heroics saw India lift their maiden World Cup, beating the West Indies in the final.

The Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee called an end to his playing career in 1994.

West Indies will not participate in the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time after falling to Scotland in their Super Six match at the qualification competition in Zimbabwe on Saturday by a score of 7 wickets.

Scotland chose to bat after winning the toss and held the two-time defending champions to 181 all out in 43.5 overs. The best bowler was Brandon McMullen, who finished with three for 32 in nine overs. Scotland easily achieved their goal of 185 for three in 43.3 overs, accomplishing it thanks to McMullen’s 69 and Matthew Cross‘ undefeated 74.

“We need to look at all areas. We have let ourselves down at this tournament. We have to go one way from here and that is up,” the captain, Shai Hope, said at the post-match presentation. “I don’t think we gave that 100% effort every single time. We only did it in patches.”

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Hope suggested the team’s buildup to the tournament was not ideal either, as they sent a second-string side to the United Arab Emirates. They played day-night internationals on tour, while Zimbabwe got used to starting at 9am on fresh African winter mornings, where the ball has moved around.

“Better planning is required. Without that support from [the cricket board] at home, we can’t expect to be a top side,” Hope added. The team’s sole victories in five games came against Nepal and the United States, a dismal showing for a group that won the World Cup in 1975 and 1979 despite the team’s injuries and illnesses.