While India have been pegged back by Australia, that wasn’t the cause of concern for a majority of cricket fans in the country, as reports about Virat Kohli not being fit enough to take field in Ranchi were doing the rounds.
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Virat Kohli injured himself while stopping a ball from reaching the fence. Virat landed awkwardly on his shoulder and after that did not take any part in the game. According to reports from the hospital that he visited, he had a level 1 ligament tear and was advised a 10 day rest from doctors.
But the BCCI released an official statement to clear the air about Virat’s status.
In a release, BCCI said: “The BCCI Medical team confirms that Indian Captain Mr. Virat Kohli is presently undergoing treatment to recuperate from a strain in his right shoulder. Relevant investigations have revealed that there are no serious concerns, which will hamper his speedy recovery from a strain in his right shoulder due to a fall while fielding on day 1 of the third Paytm Test against Australia in Ranchi. He will continue to receive treatment, which will assist him to participate in the rest of the match.”
Ajinkya Rahane had assumed captaincy duties in place of Kohli and while he lacked Kohli’s spark, R Sridhar, the fielding coach of India felt that Rahane went about the job quite admirably.
“He was very sure of his plans and Ajinkya being Ajinkya, he was taking advice from (Ravichandran) Ashwin and Ishant Sharma who are the other seniors in the team. So it was quite democratic, I thought Ajinkya did a good job there.”
“In Virat’s absence, he kept the energy levels going. He came out and positioned himself in the outfield, made sure he is communicating well with the bowler and he took inputs from the senior players.“
Let’s just hope Virat takes the field tomorrow and brings on his A-game!
