‘Virat Kohli is fit and available for selection’: India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak ahead of 2nd ODI vs ENG | Cricket News
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Saturday bore good news for the Indian team and its fans as he confirmed star batter Virat Kohli was fit and available for selection for the second ODI match against England at Cuttack on Sunday. ‘Virat Kohli is fit to play. He has come for practice and is good to go,” Kotak said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the match.
Kohli had missed out of the 1st ODI in Nagpur due to a knee injury, skipper Rohit Sharma had said at the toss before the first of the three matches between India and England. “Virat Kohli was unavailable for selection for the 1st ODI due to a sore right knee,” the BCCI had posted on the day of the match.
With Kohli available, it throws up a dilemma for the Indian team management on who will he will replace in the playing 11. In the last match, Shreyas Iyer, came in for Kohli at the last minute his own admission, and made a rollicking 36-ball 59 that has made dropping him an almost unthinkable act.
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“It is captain (Rohit Sharma) and coach’s (Gautam Gambhir) call. I can’t answer this,” Kotak replied when he was asked on if Shreyas or Yashasvi Jaiswal will make way for Kohli.
Combination questions apart, Kohli too is in need of runs, and he will need a good outing here if he indeed makes a return. Kohli’s form has been under scrutiny in recent months, especially after his struggles in Australia, where he repeatedly nicked deliveries to the slip cordon or wicketkeeper.
His last competitive outing — for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy— too was a low-yielding one, managing just six before getting bowled Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan.
But One-day cricket is Kohli’s staple format, and the 36-year-old needs just 94 runs to become the third batter to reach 14,000 runs in the format after Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) and Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) Having played 283 ODI innings, Kohli can also become the fastest to this milestone ahead of Tendulkar (350 innings) and Sangakkara (378).
(With agency inputs)
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