Virat Kohli's absence not end of life, India won without him in Australia: Aakash Chopra

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Virat Kohli's absence will be felt but India are not going to lose the series in his absence, former opener Aakash Chopra has said. He said that India won in Australia in the absence of Virat Kohli.

Aakash Chopra also praised Kohli, saying that the team was missing the former India captain who would have scored at least one big hundred in the first two Tests against the 'ordinary' England spinners.

The comments from Aakash Chopra came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the remaining three Tests of the five-match series against England. Virat Kohli will continue to sit out due to personal reasons.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash said that India will not lose the series against England in Virat's absence though his absence is being felt a lot, as reflected by the batting unit's performance.

"I would not go that far (losing the series without Virat). Let us be honest, life does not stop because of someone coming or going. Life must go on, the show must go on. We are feeling Kohli's absence a lot, I will be very honest," said Aakash.

"You are definitely missing him but his absence does not mean that you will lose the series if he isn't there because you defeated Australia in Australia in his absence. India actually lost in the match he was there, that was the Adelaide Test match, but after that, we broke Gabba's pride as well," he added.

"Considering the bowling standards and the sort of pitch that was there in Vizag and when we got to bat for the first time in Hyderabad, Kohli would have scored at least one 150 in the two matches because he would not have stopped against this ordinary bowling, in which Rehan Ahmed gets bored," Chopra said. "He said he would rather get hit for four boundaries. Kohli would have hit you for four boundaries and would not have also given you his wicket. Whether it's Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach or Tom Hartley, when Virat Kohli sees such a bowling attack, he says he won't score 50-70 but 150-200. That is why he is different from others," he added.

BCCI statement on Virat Kohli

The BCCI on Saturday announced the India squad for the last three Tests against England in Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala. A release said that BCCI "fully respects and respects" Kohli's personal reasons which are forcing him out of action.

"Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons. The Board fully respects and supports Mr. Kohli's decision," said a statement from the board.

"The participation of Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul is subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team," said the BCCI's statement. Mohammed Shami, who had missed the first two Tests due to injury, continues to sit out. Pacer Akash Deep has also been included in the squad.

The 5-Test series is levelled at 1-1 after India defeated England by 106 runs in the second Test match in Visakhapatnam.

India Squad for last three Test matches vs England: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.