Strapped up Virat Kohli in visible pain, fails quick fitness test and informs coach of unavailability in viral video

Virat Kohli’s injury comes after his poor form in the New Zealand and Australia Tests, and then he failed to impress on his Ranji Trophy return too.

Cricket fans were left disappointed on Thursday as Rohit Sharma announced Virat Kohli’s absence from the India playing XI during the toss against England, in the first ODI in Nagpur. Rohit revealed that Kohli sustained a knee problem the previous night and had been replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his ODI debut. (IND vs ENG LIVE UPDATES)

Virat Kohli was in visible pain during the fitness test.(Instagram)

Kohli’s injury comes after his poor form in the New Zealand and Australia Tests, and then he failed to impress on his Ranji Trophy return too.

Before the toss at the VCA Stadium, Kohli was seen with a strapping on his right knee, and according to the commentators, he was taking part in a fitness test to confirm his availability. Kohli could be seen taking short jogs and stretching, and it looked like he informed a member of the coaching staff that he was unsure. He could also be seen touching his right knee.

Here is the video:

The last time Kohli missed a match due to injury was in 2022, when he was ruled out of a Test match vs South Africa in Johannesburg. It was revealed that he was suffering from a back spasm.

Against Australia, he fell victim to criticism due to poor form as India lost. All his dismissals were edges to the wicketkeeper or slip cordon, which further angered fans, who began to question his form and technique. Before his Ranji Trophy return, he practiced for a week with former India and RCB batting coach Sanjay Bangar. But it didn’t really reap benefits as he was dismissed for six against Railways. Despite his poor form, his presence turned to be a crowd-puller as thousands of cricket fans rushed to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Kohli fans in particular were waiting for Thursday as the RCB star is only 94 runs away from becoming the third batter to reach 14000 runs in ODIs. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara have achieved that feat before, but if Kohli reaches that milestone, he will for sure become the fastest to bag such an achievement.