“Questions would be raised” - Salman Butt on reports of Virat Kohli skipping South Africa ODIs

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels "questions would be raised" if reports of Virat Kohli opting out of the ODI series in South Africa turn out to be true.

A number of media reports have claimed that Kohli has decided to give the one-day series in South Africa a miss as he wants to spend time with his family. Kohli was removed as ODI captain a few days back, having been replaced by Rohit Sharma.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt addressed the speculation surrounding Kohli’s availability for the ODI series in South Africa by saying:

“Questions would be raised on what is happening. Not everybody would take the reason that’s coming out, that he (Kohli) wants to be with family. I really can’t stay much about it and don’t want to speculate. It could just be a coincidence that Rohit will be unavailable for the Test matches in South Africa and Kohli (reportedly) for the one-dayers. Having said that, if this carries on, we would soon come to know what’s going on.”

Butt, however, admitted that it would be a major boost for the opposition if Kohli doesn’t play the ODIs, following confirmation that Rohit will miss the Tests. The former cricketer explained:

“India are likely to miss both (Rohit and Kohli) in one series each. It will be a question mark for India to fill their places in the two series’. At the same time, it will be a big relief for the opposition since both are main players. Rohit’s mere presence makes a difference and it’s a big loss at the top of the order (in Tests).”

Rohit was India’s leading run-getter during the Test tour of England. He scored 368 runs in four Tests at an impressive average of 52.57.

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“Unfair to expect any youngster to match Rohit Sharma’s ability” - Salman Butt on South Africa Tests

Rohit has been replaced by Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal in the Test squad. Panchal led the India A squad in South Africa recently. Speaking about the challenges in store for India’s young guns in Rohit’s absence, Butt commented:

“India have some good youngsters. There is Shreyas Iyer and Mayank Agarwal and Priyank Panchal has an excellent domestic record. He (Panchal) has all the credentials but it will be unfair to expect any youngster to match Rohit Sharma’s experience and match-winning ability. Panchal recently played in South Africa (for India A). It remains to be seen how much he can benefit from that tour.”

Panchal registered scores of 96, 24 and 0 during the unofficial Test series between India A and South Africa A in Bloemfontein.