The Indian cricket team may have heaved a sigh of relief after scans revealed no major concerns to Virat Kohli who hurt his right shoulder while making a diving save at long-on boundary here on Thursday.
“The BCCI medical team confirms that Indian captain Virat Kohli is presently undergoing treatment to recuperate from a strain in his right shoulder… The treatment will assist him to participate in the rest of the match,” said a release from BCCI on late Thursday evening.
At the start of 40th over on the opening day of the third Test, Australia’s Peter Handscomb drove Ravindra Jadeja past mid-on and Kohli gave a good chase to stop the speeding ball on a fast and hard surface. Kohli, however, was fast enough to dive and cut the ball in after putting up a dive. But in the process, Kohli landed hard on his right shoulder as he rolled past the rope. Initially it appeared he may have hurt his fingers after jamming them but the 28-year-old began to feel his shoulders as he left the field with team physio.
“Relevant investigations have revealed that there are no serious concerns, which will hamper his speedy recovery from a strain in his right shoulder due to a fall while fielding,” added the release.
Kohli was seen resting in the dressing room with an ice pack wrapped around his injured shoulder and then seemingly ready to take the field with his flannels on as the tea break approached. As a precaution, though, he refrained from taking the field.
“What happened today was that we took a precaution to make sure that he does not aggravate that injury,” said team’s fielding coach R Sridhar.
With their backs to the wall, India were desperately hoping that Kohli’s injury isn’t serious. Australia have piled on 299/4, already the biggest total of the series, and they can ill afford to lose the best batsman in their ranks.
“We will know exactly the status of the injury only by tomorrow morning. Let’s cross the bridge when we get to it. The impact was quite heavy because of the momentum he was carrying and so there was a shock on his right shoulder. That is the current status,” said Sridhar when asked if Kohli will be able to bat.
DH News Service
