India’s star batsman, Virat Kohli, will be part of the initial group of players departing for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval. They will be leaving in the early hours of Tuesday.
Joining Kohli in this first batch are Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and the team’s support staff led by Rahul Dravid. Umesh has received clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Mukesh Kumar will also travel in the first batch.
Cheteshwar Pujara, currently leading Sussex in the County Championship, will join the team later in the week to be a part of the preparations. On May 29, after the IPL final, the rest of the 15-member squad, along with reserves Suryakumar Yadav and Ruturaj Gaikwad, will set off for London.
Skipper Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and K S Bharat are among the players who will remain in India for the IPL playoffs.