India cricket team skipper Virat Kohli, who had injured his right shoulder during the third Test in Ranchi, skipped batting in the nets session on Thursday in Dharamsala. The move is seen as precautionary as the Indian team management would want Kohli to be fully fit for the decider starting on Saturday.
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The Indian skipper was present in the ground and took part in the warm-up sessions. He did some underarm throwing during fielding practice. However, it is expected that he might go full tilt in the second practice session on Friday.
Virat Kohli injured his right shoulder during the 40th over of Australia cricket team’s first innings in Ranchi. Peter Handscomb had worked a ball from Ravindra Jadeja to wide long on and the Indian skipper chased the ball. He put in the dive in order to stop the boundary but he fell heavily on his right shoulder. Kohli was off the field for a long period and it was feared that he might miss the entire Test.
{{/usCountry}}Virat Kohli injured his right shoulder during the 40th over of Australia cricket team’s first innings in Ranchi. Peter Handscomb had worked a ball from Ravindra Jadeja to wide long on and the Indian skipper chased the ball. He put in the dive in order to stop the boundary but he fell heavily on his right shoulder. Kohli was off the field for a long period and it was feared that he might miss the entire Test.
{{/usCountry}}However, he came out to bat but fell for 6 as his poor series continued.
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On the other hand, the Australian team had a long batting session in the nets in the morning. The focus was on tackling left-arm spin, more precisely Ravindra Jadeja, who has taken 21 wickets in the three Tests so far. Ashton Agar, the team’s second left-arm spinner after Steve O’Keefe, was seen bowling extended spells to Matt Renshaw.
Towards the afternoon session, Mohammed Shami had a short bowling stint in the nets, raising speculations that he might be picked for the Test. According to chief curator Sunil Chauhan, “The pace bowlers will enjoy bowling on this wicket while batsmen who play the cut and pull shot will also get value for their shots”. This has raised speculation that India might boost their pace attack for the decider.
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Shami, who has not played a Test since the Mohali game against England due to a knee injury, recently played in the Vijay Hazare final between Tamil Nadu and Bengal in which he picked up 4/26 in a losing cause.