India sweat over Virat Kohli's fitness ahead of Champions Trophy

Star batter misses first ODI with sore knee

NAGPUR: For 1,130 days, Virat Kohli had been immune to the wear and tear which sidelines even the toughest athletes. Until Thursday. At Jamtha, as India geared up for the first ODI against England, Kohli walked in with his right knee heavily strapped.

He moved with a slightly lower intensity, hobbled a bit with physio Kamlesh Jain keeping a close watch on his movements. But it didn't seem the injury will keep him out.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Which is why even when Yashasvi Jaiswal was handed the India cap, along with Harshit Rana, no one thought it would come at the expense of an injured Kohli. It did though.

It wasn't until Rohit Sharma confirmed Kohli's absence at the toss that the reality sank in - India's batting mainstay had been rested. The injury may not have seemed serious at first, but with the Champions Trophy on the horizon, his fitness is now a concern.

According to sources in the team's support staff, the decision to rest Kohli was taken late on Wednesday night. "His right knee was fine during practice, but once we got back to the hotel, it swelled up," a team insider told TOI. "It doesn't seem that bad though. He will play the Cuttack ODI in all likelihood," he added.

The 36-year-old hasn't yet been taken for scans. It will be interesting to see whether Kohli will leave for Bengaluru for a quick check-up at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) or accompany the team to Cuttack for the next game.

It was a rare moment of vulnerability for a cricketer whose supreme fitness has been his armour for 17 years.

The last time Kohli missed a game due to injury was in 2022, when an upper back spasm kept him out of a Test against South Africa. Before that, in 2021, a stiff back saw him sidelined for a warm-up match against Select County XI. And in 2017, he sat out the fourth Test against Australia after a valiant attempt to stop a boundary in Ranchi left him nursing a right shoulder injury.

India are already sweating over the fitness of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who suffered back spasms during the final Test of India's Australia tour last month. He has since been out of action with captain Rohit Sharma revealing the team is awaiting the result of a scan following which a call will be taken whether the pacer will feature in the third ODI of the England series.

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