Virat Kohli visits ashram in Rishikesh ahead of Border-Gavaskar trophy, pic goes viral

Former Team India captain Virat Kohli is currently enjoying his time off the field, ahead of India vs Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While the Hardik Pandya-led Indian T20I side faces New Zealand in the three-match T20I series, Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma reportedly visited an Ashram in Hrishikesh. In pictures currently making rounds on social media, Virat and Anushka can be seen praying to Swami Dayanand Ji Maharaj’s samadhi at Swami Dayanand Ashram in Rishikesh.

This comes weeks after the couple’s visit to Neem Karoli Baba’s ashram and their visit to a spiritual guru in Vrindavan. After returning to the team after his last spiritual journey, Kohli smashed two ODI centuries in three games against Sri Lanka and took his tally of international hundreds to 74. It is understood that Kohli made the spiritual visit to the Ashram in Hrishikesh, seeking blessing for the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia.

Virat Kohli's recent run in cricket

Kohli hit his 70th international century in 2019 and spent three years without a hundred, before smashing one against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022. This was the 71st overall and first T20I century for the former captain. He then smashed his first ODI hundred in three years in the final ODI against Bangladesh in December.

He then hit two centuries against Sri Lanka, but couldn’t convert one in the recently-concluded ODI series against the Kiwis. He is expected to start training for the much-awaited Test series against Australia, where he will look to add some Test runs under his belly as well. The Border-Gavaskar trophy is scheduled to start with the first Test at the  Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on February 9.

India vs Australia, four-match Test series: Full squads

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Australia’s squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warne