DHAKA: The Indian team is likely to travel to Bangladesh with a new Test captain.

Virat Kohli has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to exclude him from the tour as he is keen on taking a break following a long cricket season, reports The Indian Express.

It is learnt that the team is unlikely to include a head coach with the board yet to shortlist names for the role vacated by Duncan Fletcher. The tour to Bangladesh begins on June 10 with India set to play a lone Test and three ODIs.

Kohli replaced Mahendra Singh Dhoni as full-time Test captain after the long-standing skipper pulled the curtains on his career in the long format following the Boxing Day Test at the MCG last year.

But sources have informed that Kohli has already spoken to BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur about wanting rest once the Indian Premier League gets over.

Kohli, though, is not the only senior cricketer with hesitations over touring Bangladesh next month.

The BCCI senior selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil is scheduled to pick the squad on May 20, and it’s likely that they will go with a second-string outfit, an outcome that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is dreading.

“Kohli has confirmed that he wants a break. Many senior players don’t want to travel to Bangladesh as they already have been touring a lot over the past one year.

Few of them have requested for a break but the BCB wants at least some of the key players to be sent to Bangladesh as it will keep some interest alive with the TV viewers,” a BCCI source said.

BDST: 0610 HRS, MAY 15, 2015
HB