Will Virat Recover from Injury for 3rd Test? Here’s What He Said

Virat Kohli injury update. The captain struggled on the field while batting, will he play the third Test?

The Indian skipper aggravated a back strain during the match at Lord’s and missed a part of England’s batting.

(Photo: AP)

England bowled India for 130 runs in the second innings to win the second Test by an innings and 159 runs on the fourth day at Lord’s.

The hosts have now taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series with the next fixture starting on the Saturday at Trent Bridge.

Having conceded the first-innings lead of 289 runs, India's batting line-up could score only 130 in their second innings, to add to their first innings total of 107. Indian skipper Virat Kohli was critical of his team’s performance in a match where the batting order managed to score a collective 237 runs in two innings.

I’m not very proud of the way we played. To be honest, this is the first time in the last 5 Test matches that we have been outplayed and the credit has to go to England. They were clinical with the ball, the bat and the field as well. We deserved to lose this game purely because of the way we went about things and the way we executed them.

Virat Kohli

While India’s capitulation in London will be analysed and talked about, the big question for the team ahead of the next game is whether skipper Virat Kohli will be available for selection.

The Indian skipper aggravated a back strain during the match at Lord’s and missed a part of England’s batting, handing over the captaincy to Ajinkya Rahane on Day 3. When India were put into bat in their second innings on Sunday, Virat did not come out at his regular number 4 slot and instead sent Rahane. However, after the fall of quick wickets, Virat did come out in the middle but required the assistance of physiotherapist Patrick Farhart and was also seen eating medicines for the pain. He got out on 17 off 29 deliveries.

I should be okay (to play in Trent Bridge) we have five days to go. It is a lower back issue which has been coming on again and again, purely because of the workload and the number of games I played in the last few years. You still got to stay on top of that, work as hard as you can and come back with a little bit of rehab. I am confident I will be fine in five days time.

Virat Kohli

Virat’s team selection too came under the scanner in Lord’s with the damp conditions not justifying the selection of two spinners. India had made two changes for the game, dropping Shikhar Dhawan for Pujara and playing spinner Kuldeep Yadav instead of Umesh Yadav.

Speaking after the match, he did admit he got the combination wrong.

The weather was so unpredictable. It was different when we started and it changed suddenly. Ya, i think we got the combination a bit off before the game but we have a chance to correct that in the next game. 2-0 down, the only option we have is to come out positive and try and make it 2-1 and then try and make an exciting series out of it.

Virat Kohli

The third Test of the five match series will start on Saturday, 18 August in Trent Bridge.