Why doesn't Virat Kohli appear in Hyderabad during the first IND vs. ENG Test match?

Why doesn't Virat Kohli appear in Hyderabad during the first IND vs. ENG Test match?

The Indian team lost the toss and was invited to bowl first.

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India comes in with three spinners in the form of Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin.

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England won the toss and elected to bat first as skipper Ben Stokes hoped to use the new wicket as much as he could in the first Test against Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25.

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England had already announced their line-up on the eve of the match while India's line-up was also virtually set with Virat Kohli unavailable outside the choice of third spinner and the hosts decided to go for Axar Patel, who had a dream first series against this same team three years ago.

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Kohli was the notable absentee from the Indian team that played in South Africa, apart from the addition of the two spinners among three changes.

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Kohli's absence once again presented an opportunity to Shreyas Iyer in the middle order.

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KL Rahul will play as a specialist hitter and KS Bharat will keep wickets.

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