Virat Kohli missing matches due to injury is too rare, here are 4 times when he sat out

Virat Kohli was ruled out of the second Test match against South Africa on Monday due to an injury. Stand-in captain KL Rahul later confirmed that Kohli sustained an upper back spasm and as a result will miss the Johannesburg Test. Kohli would recuperate in time to play the third Test match in Cape Town, according to Rahul. Kohli was forced to miss a competitive match owing to injury, which was an unusual occurrence. Let's take a look at four games Kohli has missed owing to injury concerns during his career.

1) 2017 home Test against Australia

In 2017, Kohli was forced to miss the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after sustaining an injury on his right shoulder. Kohli suffered the injury at JSCA Stadium in Ranchi while saving a boundary against Australia. It was the first time in 54 Tests for India that Kohli was not part of the playing XI. The injury also cost Kohli three IPL games. 

2) 2018 away T20I against South Africa

Kohli missed the third and final T20I match against South Africa during India's 2018 tour of the Rainbow Nation. Kohli sustained a stiff neck injury before the game which resulted in him not being part of the match. Rohit Sharma captained the Indian side in absence of Kohli and won the game by seven runs. 

3) 2018 County match for Surrey

Kohli was forced to miss a County game for Surrey ahead of the scheduled Test series against England in 2018. Kohli was supposed to play for Surrey ahead of India's red-ball series against England but a neck injury ruled the Indian captain out of his first County stint. Kohli had taken a break from the one-off Test against Afghanistan in order to play the County match for Surrey. 

4) 2021 warm-up game against County XI

Earlier in 2021, Kohli was forced to miss a warm-up match against a Select County Xi side ahead of the England Test series. Kohli was ruled out of the warm-up match due to stiffness in his back. Kohli was advised by the BCCI's medical team to take a rest from the three-day first-class match between the Indians and the Select County XI.