As Rohit Sharma, ODI captain announced the Playing XI, Virat Kohli did not make it to the list. While it came as a shock to fans, he is currently facing a knee injury. With just 94 runs short of a 14,000 runs mark in the ODI, this news came as a disappointment.
As India lost the toss, Skipper Rohit Sharma mentioned, “We wanted to bowl first, but it doesn’t matter a lot. Need to be aggressive with the ball at the start and then need to do well later. Nice to get some time off, it’s a fresh start and this is a great chance to do well. It’s very important to get some gametime, try and maximize whatever opportunity we have. Jaiswal and Harshit are making their debuts, unfortunately Virat isn’t playing, he had a knee problem last night.”
Even though cannot be a part of the game in Nagpur, here is no denying Virat Kohli’s dominance in ODIs, making his presence in the match highly anticipated. Since the start of 2023, the 36-year-old has amassed 1,435 runs in 30 ODIs, averaging an impressive 65.22, with six centuries and eight fifties. His highest score stands at an unbeaten 166*, with a striking rate of 98.42.
Kohli was the top scorer in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, leading both the tournament and all-time charts with 765 runs in 11 matches at an astonishing average of 95.62. His performance included three centuries and six fifties, earning him the prestigious ‘Player of the Tournament’ award. However, during the Sri Lanka ODIs last year, he managed only 58 runs in three innings, with a highest score of 24.
Overall, the Playing XI has stellar performers like Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer with KL Rahul as the wicket keeper. Team England stars Ben Duckett, Philip Salt among others under the Jos Buttler captaincy.
(With ANI inputs)