Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday revealed the reason behind Virat Kohli and his Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane missing the three-day tour game against County Select XI in Durham.
In a statement released on Tuesday evening, BCCI revealed that Kohli had felt some stiffness in his back the previous evening and was hence advised rest, while Rahane had mild swelling in his hamstring. BCCI's medical team is presently monitoring Rahane's condition with the expectation that the senior batsman would be fit for the Test series opener against England.
"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," the statement read. "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."
In Kohli's absence, Rohit Sharma is captaining the side.
BCCI also revealed the reason behind two Indian players being part of the County XI side during the warm-up game.
"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."
