INDIA: Indian Batsman Virat Kohli is likely to miss the first ODI against England at the Oval on Tuesday after bearing a groin injury during the third T20 International.
The extent of Kohli’s injury is still ambiguous, but the Indian team management has agreed to give the 33-year-old veteran a break for him to be back at the next two matches i.e; at Lord’s (July 14) and Manchester’s (July 17).
“Virat has a suffered groin strain during the last game. It can’t be confirmed whether it happened during fielding or while batting. He will probably miss the first ODI tomorrow at Oval as the groin needs rest,” a The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source told the media.
It has been made clear that Kohli didn’t travel from Nottingham to London with the team. The speculated reason could be a medical check-up done to assess his condition.
“Kohli has asked for rest from the entire West Indies series. In the event he is not part of the squad, whether that will be termed “rest” or “dropped” will be a matter of conjecture,” said a close aide of the batsman.
On Monday, only the players selected for the ODIs Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna had an optional net session at the Oval ground in London.
Cricket experts are speculating this be the reason for the postponement of the Indian team selection for the five-match T20I series in the West Indies and the USA. The team will now be announced on Tuesday.
Kohli’s place in the T20 side is being questioned repeatedly by the experts including former greats like Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag although skipper Rohit Sharma has firmly backed his long-time colleague.
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