Virat Kohli injury update: Cheteshwar Pujara provides crucial update on Virat Kohli’s injury ahead of third Test match at Cape Town.
Advertisement
The Day 3 of the second Test match between India and South Africa at The Wanderers at Johannesburg has been nothing short of a see-saw battle.
While India dominated most parts of the morning session, a Kagiso Rabada masterclass pulled them right back at by Lunch reducing the visitor’s lead to 161 with just 4 wickets in the bank.
Post Lunch however, it was the Shardul Thakur show, with the bat this time around, who scored a quick fire 28 (24) and alongside a much determined Hanuma Vihari (40*) added another 78 runs to set a competitive enough target of 240 for the Proteas on a pitch with enough invariable bounce and seam movement for India’s in-form pacers.
With advantage India into the 4th innings, the tables turned yet again as South Africa began their innings with some intent and ultimately finish the day with 118/2 on the scoreboard, requiring another 122 runs with skipper Dean Elgar (46*) and Rassie van der Dussen (11*) at the crease.
Any target less than 250 with two full days of play left is going to be quite a Test match to hold on to.
And there’s no Virat Kohli around in this game to pump up the aggression.
This Test is getting tantalizingly prepped; quite a challenge for KL as first-time skipper.
— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) January 5, 2022
Cheteshwar Pujara, who played a crucial knock of 53 early in the day, provided an update on Virat Kohli’s fitness and threw light on his possibility of playing the third Test of the ongoing series.
Virat Kohli injury update
To brush it up, Virat Kohli had to miss the ongoing Test match at The Wanderers due to what is known as an upper back spasm, which meant that KL Rahul had to take over the captainship duty for the Indian team for the first time ever.
Interacting with the Press post the third day’s play, India’s mainstay at number 3- Cheteshwar Pujara stated that Kohli is expected to be fit pretty soon.
Officially I cannot reveal anything more but now he (Kohli) is definitely getting better and I feel that he will be fit very soon,” Pujara said during a media interaction.
He further added that the exact nature of Kohli’s fitness would be known from the team physio.
Kolhi was set to play his 100th Test against South Africa at Cape Town, had he played the ongoing one at The Wanderers. If things go right, Kohli is most likely to play his 100th Test match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru against Sri Lanka in February.