Giant cutouts of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma at Thiruvananthapuram venue of first T20I

The Indian cricket team has got a rousing reception in Thiruvananthapuram, the venue of the first T20I match against South Africa, but the biggest ones it seems were reserved for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Pictures shared on social media showed a huge flex of Kohli set up outside the Greenfield International Stadium at Kariavattom where the match will be played. The credits showed it was set up by the All Kerala Virat Kohli Fans (AKVKF), a fan club of the former India captain.


Not to be outdone, fans of Rohit Sharma, known as the ‘All Kerala Rohit Sharma Fans Association’, placed a colossal cutout of the India skipper too outside the venue.

Videos that went viral on social media over the last couple of days showed the Indian cricketers getting a very warm welcome as they arrived in the Kerala capital to kick off their limited-overs tour vs South Africa.

Fans flocked the streets as Rohit Sharma and co made it from the airport to the stadium. Many also chanted the name of local boy Sanju Samson, who has been left out of the T20I squad, but is likely to figure prominently in the ODI team.

The India team will play 3 T20Is in this series which will be their last assignment before the T20 World Cup.

The hosts will be without two of their key bowlers, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who have been rested ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup next month.

Shahbaz Ahmed and batsman Shreyas Iyer have been drafted into the India squad in place of replace injured Deepak Hooda and pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who according to reports has not recovered from Covid. us.

Harshal Patel, who did not have the best of times in his comeback series against Australia, will use the opportunity to come back to form. Deepak Chahar, who is on standby for the Word Cup, could get a chance if the team decides to rotate its pacers over the three games.

Arshdeep Singh will return to bolster the team's resources in the slog overs, and will combine with Jasprit Bumrah, who will be aiming to regain his full rhythm after his break.

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.