Due to a knee injury, the Indian batter missed the first game of the series in Nagpur.
After missing the first ODI because of a knee injury, Virat Kohli is healthy enough to participate in Sunday’s second match against England in Cuttack.
On the day of the game, Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach, confirmed his availability. According to Kotak, “Virat Kohli is fit, yes, he is practicing with us today,” in Cuttack. “He is good to go.”In front of a large crowd on Saturday night, Kohli spent an hour training with the team. He started with quick runs without any strapping on his legs, moving fluidly, and after a 7-8 minute run, he batted in the nets without appearing to be constrained in his footwork. A day prior to the start of the series in Nagpur, Virat Kohli had swollen his right knee during training. Shreyas Iyer replaced him in the starting lineup after he scored a half-century and disclosed that he had not been scheduled to play the first ODI, with debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma at the top of the order.
It’s unclear how India would adjust their lineup to get Virat Kohli back, but if Jaiswal is benched, Shubman Gill, who batted at number three and scored 87, may step up to open, giving Kohli the No. 3 place; if Shreyas is benched, Kohli and Gill might bat at numbers three and four.
Virat Kohli hasn’t played an ODI since the tour of Sri Lanka in August last year. The ongoing series against England is India’s last 50-over assignment before the Champions Trophy begins on February 19. His form has been under scrutiny in recent months, and after a poor tour of Australia where all of his dismissals were edges to the wicketkeeper or slip cordon, he spent a week working with former India and RCB batting coach Sanjay Bangar. He then played one Ranji Trophy match for Delhi – his first appearance in the competition since 2012 – where he was bowled for 6 against Railways.
Kohli is just 94 runs away from being just the third hitter to achieve 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, which is his best format. Only Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar have previously reached that point, but Kohli will undoubtedly do so the quickest.
