Star batter Virat Kohli has recovered from a sore right knee and is fit to play the second ODI against England in Cuttack on Sunday, confirmed batting coach Sitanshu Kotak. “Virat Kohli is fit to play. He has come for practice and is good to go,” Kotak told mediapersons on the eve of the second game. However he didn’t divulge who among opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and last match’s half-centurion Shreyas Iyer would be dropped from the playing eleven. “It is captain (Rohit Sharma) and coach’s (Gautam Gambhir) call. I can’t answer this,” Kotak replied.
He also played down skipper Rohit Sharma’s poor form, stating that it is a mere “lean patch”.
Who will Kohli replace?
Shreyas Iyer, who came in for Kohli at the last minute by his own admission, made a rollicking 36-ball 59 that has made dropping him an almost unthinkable act.
If the past norms are followed, then Kohli will walk in for Shreyas, but it is more likely that Yashasvi Jaiswal could be the one who will have to make for the batting icon.
It means that Gill might rejoin Rohit at the top, and Jaiswal did not have a blazing match either at Nagpur.
It remains to be seen how the team think tank led by Gautam Gambhir, which has shown a penchant for left-right combination, navigates this situation.
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 by 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).
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