BCCI defends Kohli's move to skip Afghanistan Test

New Delhi [India], May 10 (ANI): Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary on Thursday defended Indian skipper Virat Kohli's decision to skip one-off Test match against Afghanistan.
The 28-year-old captain is giving a miss to the historic occasion that is to be held from June 14 to June 18 in Benguluru, in order to play in English county cricket for Surrey in June.
In Kohli's absence, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the 15-member squad in Afghanistan's inaugural Test.
When asked about his opinion on Kohli's decision, Chaudhary refused to give the same and said that the BCCI's decision is a final one.
"The BCCI's position was made clear soon after selection day before yesterday in Bangalore. The question about Virat Kohli did come up. And I was able to state the BCCI's position. Individual opinions may differ. But, once the final opinion has been penned down. Then that was communicated. So, I don't think I need to give my personal opinion on this," Chaudhary told ANI.
Kohli will play English domestic cricket in the lead-up to India's five-Test series.
Kohli will become the fourth Indian Test player in English county cricket this season, with Ishant Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara preparing for the series against England at Sussex and Yorkshire respectively, while Varun Aaron, who played the last of his nine Test matches in 2015, is representing Leicestershire.
Talking about Justice (Retd) R.M Lodha-led panel reforms, Chaudhary revealed that twelve state associations of the BCCI have informed the Supreme Court that they are ready to implement the recommendation barring four exceptions.
"The fact is that as many as 12 full members are agreed on only four limited points which need to be reconsidered. And that is also following the honorable Supreme Court's order which has also given us the liberty of reconsidering those points of impracticality," the BCCI acting secretary said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the BCCI office bearers, who had given an undertaking that they would ensure implementations of the recommendations, to submit their suggestions regarding difficulties in implementing the reforms.
The 12 state associations that have sent the undertaking are Andhra, Assam, Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Railways, Tripura, Universities, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha, Association of Indian Universities.
These associations are finding it difficult to implement four reforms i.e one state, one vote, the three year cooling-off period after a term, constitution of the apex council and distribution of power and duties between elected council and BCCI officials. (ANI)