IND vs ENG: Virat Kohli fit for 2nd ODI in Cuttack, confirms batting coach Sitanshu Kotak

Virat Kohli missed the 1st ODI in Nagpur due to a knee injury.

India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has confirmed Virat Kohli’s availability for the second ODI against England, which will be played on Sunday in Cuttack.

Kohli missed the first ODI in Nagpur due to a knee injury that he sustained on the eve of the match. Captain Rohit Sharma confirmed at the toss in Nagpur that Kohli injured his right knee on Wednesday night, and thus, had to be excluded from India’s XI.

Kohli was seen with a strap on his right knee before the Nagpur ODI and trained gingerly.

In Nagpur, India handed Yashasvi Jaiswal his ODI debut, while Shreyas Iyer revealed he was the one who replaced Kohli in the line-up.

Will Virat Kohli play in 2nd ODI against England in Cuttack?

In the pre-match press conference on Saturday, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak confirmed that Kohli is fit and will feature in the 2nd ODI in Cuttack.

“Virat Kohli is fit, he’s training today and good to go,” said Sitanshu.

The Indian team management now have a dilemma regarding their batting order. Iyer was supposed to be benched in Nagpur as India handed Jaiswal his ODI debut. But, Iyer came into the side for Kohli and slammed a thunderous half-century that provided India momentum in their run chase.

Now that Kohli is fit, do India drop Jaiswal after just one innings, or does Iyer make way for Kohli as it was supposed to be in Nagpur?

Kohli himself is coming off a tough tour of Australia. Although he hit a century in Perth, he couldn’t manage a substantial score other than that. Concerns are more regarding his mode of dismissal, as he got out to the outside off-stump deliveries eight times in Australia, and then was bowled by pacer Himanshu Sangwan on his Ranji Trophy return.

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