The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has clarified that Virat Kohli will play the One-Day Internationals against South Africa next month according to a report in Cricbuzz. “To my knowledge, even before any captaincy call was taken, Virat wanted to take a break from the SA ODIs,” Arun Dhumal, BCCI treasurer said, denying reports of any rift between the two senior players. Another BCCI official refuted reports that Kohli will not play the ODIs against the Proteas. “He will be playing in the ODI series,” he said.

There were some reports that Kohli might take a break because of his daughter Vamika's first birthday (January 11). Kohli will be playing his 100th Test match on that day. The ODI series starts on January 19.Kohli has been a advocate of workload management in bubble life, which he thinks isn't sustainable for long periods of time as it can take a toll on one's mental health.In the past year, he has been on a paternity break during the 2020-21 Australia series, and during the three T20 Internationals against New Zealand at home

There have been rumours that Kohli, after being stripped of ODI captaincy, wants to make a statement by not playing the ODIs. “Virat Kohli has informed that he's not available for the ODI series & Rohit Sharma is unavailable for d upcoming test. There is no harm in takin a break but d timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation abt d rift. Neither will be giving up d other form of cricket,” tweeted former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin. Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also reacted to the alleged rift between two Indian captains, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, saying nobody is bigger than sports and concerned federations or associations should provide information about the matter.