Virat Kohli urges the nation to support Indian athletes performing in Tokyo Olympics

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has a great fan following on and off the field. Such is his popularity that, the 32-year-old has 136 Million followers on Instagram and is the highest followed athlete in India. Often he uses this fan following to good effect and urges people to follow what he feels needs to be supported or given attention for.

And this time the right-hand batter has urged the people of India to support and back the athletes who will be contesting at the Tokyo Olympics, which are all set to begin on July 23. The Olympics was slated to be held in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had to be pushed by a year.

Now, it is all set and sensing an opportunity, the BCCI shared a video on their official Twitter account, in which the 32-year-old said: “Watch our Indian athletes in Tokyo Olympics.”

The video also had a strong caption, “#TeamIndia captain @imVkohli is cheering for our athletes at @Tokyo2020 Let’s join him and #Cheer4India @IndiaSports| @Media_SAI| @WeAreTeamIndia.”

#TeamIndia captain @imVkohli is cheering for our athletes at @Tokyo2020 👍 👍

Let's join him and #Cheer4India 🇮🇳 👏 👏@IndiaSports | @Media_SAI | @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/6vBjwi0nXw

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 18, 2021

Virat Kohli and his men set to play a practice match

Meanwhile, India players and the support staff have returned from their well-deserved break and are due to play a practice game starting from July 20. The squad has assembled in Durham and have begun their training.

While maverick wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s news on testing positive on 8 July raised some concerns in the Indian team, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah cleared the air saying the rest of the squad members are doing fine and there is nothing to worry about.

With Shubman Gill ruled out of the five-match Test series against England, all eyes will be on the Indian management as to what possible changes it might bring into the squad. Earlier the BCCI dismissed rumors of sending in a replacement player for Gill.

With Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul as the backup option available, the team in all likelihood will give Agarwal a look in alongside Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. India can also try Hanuma Vihari at the top, as the batter has previously opened for the team.