Indian Test captain Virat Kohli reportedly will miss the upcoming ODI series against South Africa. A tweet by the Twitter handle @KShriniwasRao, reporter of the Times of India, on December 14, alarmed fans, a part of which read: “I heard Rohit won’t play Tests & Virat won’t play ODIs.” Kohli has reportedly planned a holiday with his family as January is the birth month of his child with actor Anushka Sarma, Vamika, who will turn one in 2022.

Also read: Watch: What Rohit Sharma said about Virat Kohli’s white-ball captaincy

The tweet, which had unfolded into a thread, however also mentioned: “I’m only assuming Virat is taking a break because the month is special for the family. Nobody has confirmed it to me if that IS the reason.” It is therefore only an alleged report and the reason merely a speculation till now.

Kohli recently made national headlines after he was removed as the ODI captain when the Indian squad for their tour of South Africa was announced. The selectors did not want two different captains for the white-ball formats and the decision was supported by the board.

Also read: ‘Rohit’s record in IPL is phenomenal’: Ganguly on captaincy controversy

BCCI and selectors faced a lot of heat online from ardent Kohli fans as they saw this removal as an unfair move. The board maintained that they had offered Kohli 48 hours to step down from the role before announcing it.

BCCI secretary Sourav Ganguly clarified in a conversation with News 18 that he had previously personally requested Kohli to not be the T20 captain. “Obviously, he felt the workload. Which is fine, he has been a great cricketer, he has been very intense with his cricket. He has captained for a long period of time and these things happen.”

Also read: A pity: Virat Kohli’s childhood coach blasts BCCI for ODI captaincy axing

On being probed why there was an emphasis on having only one white-ball captain, Ganguly stated, “A good team does not have too many leaders. That’s probably the reason and that’s what it is.”

No official confirmation of this report has so far been received from either the board or the man himself.