When Was The Last Time Virat Kohli Got Ruled Out Of Series Due To Injury

Virat Kohli [Source: AFP]

Virat Kohli has been ruled out of Team India’s upcoming three-match home ODI series against Afghanistan. The legendary Indian batter, active only in ODI cricket these days, is out of the series owing to a hamstring injury.

Renowned for his exceptional fitness standards and remarkable durability, the senior batter has rarely found himself sidelined by injury throughout his illustrious international career, making his absence from the Afghanistan series a notable development.

Here, we take a look at the last time Virat Kohli was forced to miss an entire series or a tournament owing to an injury.

When Kohli missed an entire series owing to an injury

Interestingly, there is no recorded instance of Virat Kohli missing an entire series or a tournament for India solely due to injury ever since he made his international debut way back in 2008.

Despite spending nearly two decades at the highest level for Team India, Kohli's exceptional fitness and workload management have helped him avoid the kind of long-term injury layoffs that have often sidelined many of his contemporaries.

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However, the last time Kohli was affected by an injury to miss even a single game occurred back in February last year, shortly before the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Taking on England in Vidarbha, then Indian captain Rohit Sharma revealed that Kohli was ruled out of the playing XI from the series-opener owing to a ‘knee injury’.

The champion Indian batter eventually made his return a couple of days later in Cuttack, and punched out a match-winning 52 in Ahmedabad as the hosts clinched a 3-0 series sweep.

ODI series or tours missed by Virat Kohli

This is the first instance in his 18-year-old international career that Virat Kohli is missing an entire ODI series owing to an injury. Previously, he pulled out of the 2018 Asia Cup in the UAE owing to fatigue.

The cricketer was also rested for four successive ODI series back in 2022, considering two of those series were away tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe, and the remaining two against South Africa and New Zealand were scheduled in close proximity with the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Kohli also skipped India’s white-ball tours of Zimbabwe in 2015 and 2016, and missed the home ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka in December 2017 since it coincided with his marriage to Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma.

He, along with several other seniors also pulled out of India’s low-stakes tour of Bangladesh in June 2014. The legendary Indian batter additionally skipped an away series against Sri Lanka in 2021 owing to an overlapping Test series in England.

When will Virat Kohli make his return for Team India?

The 37-year-old last played for Team India back in January this year during a home ODI series against New Zealand. Set to miss the upcoming ODIs against Afghanistan, the cricketer will be expected to regain his fitness for India’s away series against England next month.

As per the schedule, Team India is set to face England for a three-match ODI series between July 14 and July 19.

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