- Sunday, May 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
ACE India batter Virat Kohli, who was not part of the playing XI that obliterated England in the first one-day international (ODI) at the Oval on Tuesday (12), is likely to miss the second match at the Lord’s on Thursday (14).
The 33-year-old former India captain, who is having the worst time with the bat, could not make enough runs in the single Test and two T20 internationals that he played before the ODI series and sat out in the first ODI because of his groin strain. His absence though didn’t affect India as Rohit Sharma’s men picked their first-ever 10-wicket victory over the Three Lions in the 50-over format and will look to pocket the three-match series at the iconic venue.
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While the negative aspect of Kohli’s absence is not getting a solid show from country’s premier batter in pressure games, his poor form is an opportunity for others to show that they can win games on their own or at least own the big stage, like Suryakumar Yadav did in third T20 international at Nottingham with a blistering hundred.
“I wasn’t playing in the last T20 game and he (Kohli) didn’t play today (Tuesday). I don’t have an update on his injury,” was all that first match’s hero Jasprit Bumrah said when asked about the former skipper’s availability for the second game.
Groin strain can easily aggravate into a proper tear if the player rushes himself into the thick of things. A quick single or a swift turnaround during a double can unknowingly worsen a player’s condition if he takes the field without being hundred percent fit.
At times, some injuries are a blessing in disguise for the team management in order to avoid a tough call and Kohli’s groin strain could just be that.
Kohli has played 260 ODIs till now in which he has amassed more than 12,000 runs with 43 hundreds at an impressive average of 58 plus.
Teams
England: Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey.
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
[With PTI inputs]
