Sri Lanka vs India 2017: Virat Kohli confirms his availability for the ODI and T20I series

What's the story?

There were a lot of reports over Indian skipper Virat Kohli being rested for the limited-overs leg against Sri Lanka that will start after the end of the third Test.

Kohli said that the selection will happen soon and being a captain, he has certain plans in mind and will be in the thick of things when the team is picked.

"Yes definitely. We are going to sit down on selection soon and we certainly have plans in mind and combinations that we want to speak about. So as captain I am definitely in the thick of things and knowing what to speak to the committee about," Kohli said when asked about whether India will be fielding a full strength team in the ODI series.

Extra cover: Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli: Who is a better player?

When asked about his participation, he said he will be playing for the series and was not sure where the reports came from.

"My participation? Who said I am not playing? Rumors? I don't know where this came from. If you don't want me to play, then tell me, I have no problems in playing," Kohli said about his participation and the rumours surrounding it.

In case you didn't know...

Over the last few days, there were reports that Kohli might be rested for the Sri Lanka LOI series which is scheduled to begin after the completion of the Test series.

In his absence, Rohit was tipped to captain the team. India will play Sri Lanka in five ODIs and a one-off T20I starting on August 20.

Details

Kohli has been continuously playing cricket for the past year and a half. The only break he got was when he was ruled out of the fourth Test against Australia and the first few matches of the IPL due to a shoulder injury.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Kohli has traversed close to 90,000 km over the last one year, right from India’s tour to the Caribbean to the ongoing Sri Lanka series. The entire circumference of the earth is less than half of that figure.

The selectors are scheduled to sit and pick the team for the series on August 13 and one can expect few new players getting the nod in the squad.

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Author's Take

Without a doubt, Virat Kohli has played a lot of matches in the last few months and is scheduled to play 23 more matches before India fly to South Africa for a long tour. He deserves a break and with Sri Lanka hardly posing any challenge, this will be the right time for the skipper to take a break.

Having said that, Kohli is the best judge to say how much his body can take. If he is willing to play, the selectors should not have an issue in picking him. Also, the team management should sit with the captain and discuss his availability so that he doesn't get affected by fatigue in the future.