The Indian cricket team had a great start to their practice match against the Country Select XI as they went on to score 306 runs on Day 1 of three, behind KL Rahul’s 101 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 75-run knocks at Chester-le-Street in Durham.

However, a rather unpleasant surprise for the fans of the Men in Blue was to learn that skipper Virat Kohli and deputy in command, Ajinkya Rahane were to miss out on the action with minor niggles in their fitness.

“Captain Virat Kohli felt some stiffness in his back on late Monday evening and he has been advised rest from the three-day first-class warm-up game by the BCCI Medical Team," BCCI said in a statement.

“Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has mild swelling around his left upper hamstring. This has been addressed by an injection. He is not available for the three-day first-class warm-up game. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring him, and he is expected to fully recover well in time for the first Test against England starting from 4th August at Nottingham."

With the captain and the vice-captain not being able to make it to the field, the duty was given to team veteran Rohit Sharma (9), who admittedly didn’t get the start that he had hoped for and became the first wicket to fall for the World Test Championship runners-ups. 

The team also suffered another scare after Avesh Khan (playing for the opposing side) ended up hurting his finger while bowling to his compatriot, Hanuma Vihari in the 35th over of the innings. Khan had bowled 9.5 overs for 41 runs without picking up a wicket when he walked off.

As the Indian cricket board addressed, the injuries and fitness issues that Kohli and Rahane are feeling are “mild” in nature and are confident that they will be ready to play at a high level by the time the first Test against Joe Root’s England side takes place on August 4, 2021.

“Team India are wearing black armbands to mourn the sad demise of former India cricketer Yashpal Sharmaji, who sadly passed away on 13th July after a cardiac arrest. Head Coach Ravi Shastri was his teammate in the 1983 World Cup winning squad."

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