CUTTACK: One look at the stands on Saturday evening at the Barabati Stadium, and one could have been forgiven for mistaking it for match day instead of match eve.
The Odisha Cricket Association‘s (OCA) decision to open part of the stands for fans to watch India train, for free, ahead of the crucial second ODI against England here was a hit, with the stadium nearly half full.
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The loudest cheers from the 20,000-plus crowd were reserved for the man who missed the first ODI in Nagpur with a sore right knee — Virat Kohli.
Saturday’s nets, however, suggested Kohli was not going to sit out another game. One of the fittest cricketers around, the former India captain last missed a match — before the Nagpur ODI — more than three years ago, the Johannesburg Test against South Africa in Jan 2022. Fit and raring to go, the star batter was the first to hit the nets and batted for nearly an hour before leaving the ground first, shouldering his cricket coffin.
While England completely skipped Saturday’s practice, many India players also skipped the optional session, including last-match hero Shreyas Iyer, vice-captain Shubman Gill, debutant Harshit Rana, comeback man Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel.
“Virat Kohli is fit to play. He has come for practice and is good to go,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said during the prematch media interaction.
With a fit-again Kohli back in the playing XI, India will face a selection dilemma as they prepare to tick all the boxes ahead of the Champions Trophy and seal the series before going to Ahmedabad.
Will Iyer lose his place to Kohli if the team management decides to continue with Yashasvi Jaiswal to keep the left-right opening combination going with captain Rohit Sharma? Kotak, however, bypassed any queries on who should make way for Kohli on Sunday.
“I think that’s what the head coach and captain can talk about. But yes, definitely a lefty-righty combination is there. But I would say that question is not something which I would like to answer, to be very honest,” was Kotak’s diplomatic answer.
Rohit’s form will certainly also be a concern for the side, no matter how the management tries to brush aside any doubts regarding his continuous run of poor form. Rohit, incidentally, got out after scoring only two runs in the first ODI of this series.
Rohit coming back into form will certainly be a big boost for the hosts ahead of the ICC event starting on Feb 19. The track looks a belter and could well be the right platform for the ‘Hitman’ to get some much-needed runs under his belt.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul is likely to get another look-in as the wicketkeeper-batter ahead of Rishabh Pant, who batted for long in the nets. However, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh bowled long spells during the practice session and could replace Shami, who might be rested to manage his workload following a long injury layoff.
Although dew factor is unlikely to come into play here, batting second will be the preferred choice, as chasing teams have won 12 out of the 19 ODIs played here over the years.