Virat Kohli will feature in the India vs. England 2nd ODI. The star batter, who wasn’t fit for selection in Nagpur, will return to his No. 3 position in Cuttack. Kohli had injured his right knee on the eve of the match, according to India cricket team captain Rohit Sharma.
“Jaiswal and Harshit are making their debuts. Unfortunately, Virat isn’t playing; he had a knee problem last night,” Rohit had said at the toss.
Virat Kohli to play India vs England 2nd ODI
The injury forced Kohli to sit out, with Shreyas Iyer replacing him in the India Playing XI. But now, the former Indian captain is as fit as a fiddle. Vice-captain Shubman Gill, who was the ‘player of the match’ in Nagpur, confirmed that Kohli will play the second ODI. His injury was a minor one and nothing to speculate about.
“It’s nothing serious. He (Kohli) was fine during yesterday’s (Wednesday) practice, but he woke up with some swelling in his knee this morning (Thursday). He’ll definitely be back for the second ODI,” Gill told Disney+ Hotstar.
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Kohli to be back in India’s Playing XI for 2nd ODI
According to Gill, Kohli woke up on February 6 with some swelling on his right knee. The issue no longer persists. Gill didn’t confirm, but it seemed more like a precautionary decision taken by Kohli and the medical staff. With the ICC Champions Trophy coming up, there wasn’t any need to take any risk, and most likely, that’s why Kohli didn’t play in Nagpur.
Given that Shreyas Iyer, who replaced him in Nagpur, did well, Yashasvi Jaiswal will most likely be dropped from the India vs. England 2nd ODI. No other changes are expected.
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli (replacing Yashasvi Jaiswal), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
