Kohli’s injury flares again
Reoccurrence of skipper’s back complaint could spell trouble for India
India has played down fears that captain Virat Kohli’s temperamental back has flared up.
Kohli received treatment from the Indian physio on the field yesterday but three wild swings later he was out for 82, uncharacteristically throwing away an almost guaranteed century.
While Kohli had faced a whopping 204 deliveries as part of India’s hard slog on a flat pitch, his sudden decision to throw the bat suggested he might have been in significant physical discomfort.
Kohli being caught on the fence at wide third man trying to slash at Mitchell Starc raised instant question marks.
India denies there is an issue with Kohli but the master batsman has struggled with a problem all year, with a back injury forcing him to pull out of county cricket in England in May.
Reports in India said Kohli slipped a disc in his lower back earlier in the year due to an overload of batting and playing county cricket for Surrey.
With Kohli having missed the deciding fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia in early 2017 due to a shoulder injury, Indian officials will be desperately hoping their most influential figure can back up in Sydney on January 3 for what shapes as a do-ordie finale.
However, the sight of Kohli leading his chargers back out to field in the final hour of play yesterday suggested the warrior would fight on.
The soreness he was experiencing after his long stint might have been nothing compared to the anguish of the Australian bowlers, who were forced to trundle through nearly 170 overs on a unresponsive wicket.
Despite the dire conditions, India’s slow march towards 7(dec)-443 was a model of professionalism.
The new “wall” of Indian cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara, carved out another soul-destroying hundred – his second of the series – to demoralise Australia’s bowlers, who still have another innings in Melbourne and Test in Sydney to go.
Melbourne’s pitch of boredom would have taken Pujara and Kohli back to Bangalore and the other flat, featureless decks of their homeland.
The Indians simply relished in it. Led by Pujara and Kohli and later Rohit Sharma (63 not out), the visitors were unhurried and unflappable.
They played with great patience and precision against an honourable attack who found they simply couldn’t find any devil in the back-breaking conditions.
Australia’s plight was plunged into further desperation by the fact they dropped a handful of simple catches, including Sharma when he was just 15.
Pujara (328) and Kohli (259) dominate the run-scoring tally for the series, with no Australia batsmen yet posting a century.