Team will practice for just two days prior to third test in Trentbridge
Debasis Sen, London: The Indian team finds themselves in a situation where they have to win the third test match in Trentbridge to stay in the series against England. The third test match will get underway from Saturday. Adding to the woes of a humiliating loss, the Indian team has to deal with an injury concern as captain Virat Kohli is reportedly suffering from a back problem. The Indian captain was forced to come in to bat after 37 minutes in the second innings following the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. But Kohli looked to be grimacing in pain and had to take treatment in the ground during his innings.
On being asked about the status of his injury, Kohli said,”Yesterday and today, it wasn’t great. The back can be very tricky when it goes off. It happened in the latter half of the last leg of the South Africa tour when I missed a T20 game. That was very sudden, it happened a day before the game.”
However, Kohli is quite confident that he can be fit for the third Test match which begins on Saturday, August 18.
“The good thing is I have five days before the next Test. We are confident that with rehab and strengthening I should be ready. Although not the same intensity in the field, I should be good enough to hold a position in the field and be 100% with the bat” said Kohli at his post match conference on Sunday.
He further added, “Again, I’ll have to look at the running bit, which was difficult today. As of now, it’s sore — I’m not hiding that fact. That’s part of the game. I had to do whatever I could to go out there and bat again and try my best.”
It has been quite a traumatic experience for the Indian batters against the seam and swing and Virat Kohli has been the one batsman who has held his own fort and his injury concern should be a big setback if he does not manage to stay fit for the third Test match.
Meanwhile the Indian team will start preparing for the third test match from Thursday.
According to the media manager, the Indian team will travel to Nottingham on Wednesday and will practice at Trentbridge from Thursday. That means the players will get a much needed break for three days to regroup themselves mentally and analyse their mistake.