London: A confident Indian team looks set to overpower England with yet another dominant show in the second ODI at the Lord’s on Thursday despite Virat Kohli’s dodgy groin and dismal form.
The former India captain, who is enduring a prolonged bad patch, missed the first game due to groin strain and it is still not clear if he is fit for the second game.
Kohli’s poor show, however, hasn’t affected the team much as it is playing extremely well in the white-ball games. After clinching the T20 series 2-1, it cantered to a convincing 10-wicket victory in the opening ODI.
While the negative aspect of Kohli’s absence is not getting a solid show from country’s premier batter in pressure games, on the flip side, his poor form is an opportunity for others to show that they can win games on their own or at least own the big stage like Suryakumar Yadav did in final T20 International at Nottingham.
“I wasn’t playing in the last T20 game and he (Kohli) didn’t play today (Tuesday). I don’t have an update on his injury,” was all that first match’s hero Jasprit Bumrah said when asked about former skipper’s availability for the second game.
Groin strain can easily aggravate into a proper tear if the player rushes himself into the thick of things.
A quick single or a swift turnaround during a double can unknowingly worsen a player’s condition if he takes field without being hundred percent fit.
At times, some injuries are blessing in disguise for the team management in order to avoid a tough call and Kohli’s groin strain could just be that.
Teams
England: Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey.
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
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