Hyderabad: Team India captain Virat Kohli is likely to travel back to India from Australia ahead of the marquee Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to attend the birth of his child.
Kohli's wife, Anushka Sharma, is expecting their first child in the first week of January.
Measures will be taken to help the 32-year-old return to Australia for last two Tests in 2021 scheduled to be held in Sydney (January 7 to 11) and Brisbane (January 15 to 19). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will request the Cricket Australia (CA) to relax the quarantine period for Kohli upon his return Down Under.
But, it is certain that without a travel bubble between India and Australia, Kohli is unlikely to join the Indian squad again.
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This will be India's first tour of Australia after their historic first Test series win (2-1) Down Under in 2018-2019. Kohli was the captain of that Indian team. It is learnt that Kohli has informed the BCCI of his decision to return to India at the selection committee meeting to pick the squad.
The schedule for India's tour of Australia was announced in October. The three months long tour will start with the first ODI of three-match series on November 27. The second and third ODIs will be played on November 29 and December 2. This will follow the three-match T20I series on December 4, 6 and 8.
The rigorous tour will end with a four-match Test series starting at Adelaide from December 17.
