The Indian cricket team has made a great start in the ODI series against England. Team India defeated England by 4 wickets in the first ODI match played in Nagpur. Despite this victory, everyone was a little worried because star batsman Virat Kohli could not play this match due to injury. Now the second match of the series is to be played on Sunday, February 9 and everyone is eager to know whether Kohli is fit now? Or will he be out of this match too? So the suspense is over now. There is relief news for the fans of Team India and Virat Kohli as Virat is fully fit for the second match and ready to take the field.
The second match of the three-match ODI series between India and England will be played in Cuttack, Odisha on Sunday. Regarding this match, all eyes were on Virat Kohli’s fitness. Kohli’s exclusion from the first match came as a surprise to everyone as the star batsman, who has been playing international cricket for over 15 years, had maintained his best fitness and was out of only a few matches. But his poor form and sudden injury left fans worried.
His injury just before the Champions Trophy had raised concerns but now those concerns have been put to rest as the former India captain is now fully fit. A day before the second ODI, on Saturday, February 8, the team’s batting coach Stanislav Kotak gave this important update on Virat’s fitness in a press conference. The coach said that Virat is now fully fit and available for the second match. This means that Virat’s return to the playing XI in the second ODI is now certain. With this match, Virat will be seen playing in his strongest ODI format for the first time since August 2024. This is a good opportunity for him to prepare ahead of the Champions Trophy.
After Kohli’s return, a big question has arisen as to who will replace him in the playing XI. Kotak did not reveal anything about this and clearly said that this decision will be taken by the coach and captain. In the last match, Yashasvi Jaiswal made his debut and came to open. At that time, it was believed that Kohli’s injury had created a place for him, but after the match, Shreyas Iyer revealed that he was actually not going to play in the Nagpur ODI but the doors were open for him due to Kohli’s injury. Iyer scored an explosive half-century in just 30 balls in that match. In such a situation, there is no possibility of removing him, due to which young opener Jaiswal will have to vacate his place.
Copyright – Third Party Reference Inline Linking Embedded Video from BCCI