Hyderabad/Mumbai: Star batter Virat Kohli on Thursday left for the United States to join the Indian Cricket Team for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The development was confirmed to ETV Bharat by a highly-placed source from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The T20 World Cup will be played in the Caribbean and the United States of America and India begin their campaign against Ireland in New York on Wednesday, June 5.
Before the main tournament begins, India, who won the inaugural edition of the World Cup way back in 2007, will face off their neighbours Bangladesh in a warm-up fixture to be played on Saturday on June 1. It remains to be seen whether Virat plays the warm-up game or not.
35-year-old Delhi-born Virat, who is in sublime form, was the leading run-scorer in the just-concluded Indian Premier League. The right-handed batter would be keen to perform well for the national side and in all likelihood open the innings with skipper Rohit Sharma.
Meanwhile, Indian players have started their training for the coveted tournament. India are placed in Group A. India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in New York on June 9.
Virat had asked the BCCI for a mini-break post the IPL and hence he did not travel with rest of the Indian players.
