The BCCI, in a release, revealed that India’s skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane were ruled out of the practice game against County XI due to fitness concerns. The BCCI also revealed that India had to lend two players to the County XI side upon the host’s request.
Today, when India announced their playing XI for the tour game against County XI, the names of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were missing, which left everyone stunned. The tour game wasn’t supposed to take place if we go by the original schedule but it was staged after a request from the BCCI. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli had emphasized the need of playing a practice game ahead of the England Tests, which is why it was surprising to see both him and Rahane not taking the field on Tuesday.
However, now, it has been revealed by the BCCI that both the players are missing the three-day game due to fitness concerns. While Kohli felt stiffness in his back, Rahane had swelling around his hamstring.
“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. 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,” the BCCI stated in a press release.
It was also surprising to see the Indian duo of Washington Sundar and Avesh Khan featuring for the County XI side. The BCCI informed that the ECB had requested to field the Indian players as the opposition side was falling short of 11 players, either due to injury or COVID concerns.
“The ECB made a request to the Indian team management to let two players from the Indian contingent play for County Select XI after some of their players were deemed to be unavailable either due to injury or close contacts of a Covid-19 positive person. Accordingly, Washington Sundar and Avesh Khan have been made available to play for their team,” the release added.
Follow us on Facebook here
Stay connected with us on Twitter here
Like and share our Instagram page here