Kohli ready to shoulder burden
NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli, who missed the first three games of the 2017 Indian Premier League due to a shoulder injury, has been declared fit and will be available for selection in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s next game against Mumbai Indians on April 14.
Kohli, who sustained the shoulder injury during the third Test against Australia in Ranchi, missed the Dharamsala Test and did not play in the first three games of the 2017 edition against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab.
The BCCI issued a statement which stated that the medical team had confirmed that the Indian skipper had undergone rehabilitation and had regained match fitness.
The Indian cricket board had released a statement on Tuesday by saying that Kohli would be assessed by the board’s medical team in the second week of the league to determine if he was ready to play.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team on Wednesday confirmed that Indian Cricket Team and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Mr. Virat Kohli has regained match fitness,” a BCCI statement read.
“He will now be available for RCB’s next match against Mumbai Indians on April 14 in Bengaluru.
“The India captain had undergone rehabilitation after sustaining an injury to his right shoulder and has now recovered to be able to participate in VIVO IPL 2017.”
Kohli himself announced that he would only return to action if he felt that he was 120 per cent fit.
A couple of days back, he had uploaded a video of himself lifting weights over his head to indicate his return to fitness and also let his fans know when they would see him in action.
Royal Challengers Bangalore would be aiming to bounce back after suffering a heavy loss to Kings XI Punjab in their second game at the Holkar stadium in Indore.
The match saw the comeback of AB de Villiers, who had missed the first two games due to a back injury.
Kohli’s side, who have lost Australia paceman Mitchell Starc and India opener Lokesh Rahul to injuries, have lost two of their three matches in the April 5-May 21 tournament. BANGALORE: With their big-hitting batsmen back in the mix, Royal Challengers Bangalore would prefer chasing targets says skipper Virat Kohli. “Now with me coming back and all specialist batsmen playing, the thinking might change again. Bangalore has generally been a ground where you can chase down high totals and Friday being a day game obviously that really matters a lot because under the lights the wicket is better during the day time,” Kohli said.
The captain emphasised on winning the away games to go deep in the tournament. “We know we play good cricket at home but last year we won really some good matches away from home and that is why we reached the final, so in order to do that, that is the most important thing factor in IPL, we need to win away games. That is something that we will stay in focus for us through the season if we want to make it to play-offs.”
Kohli hinted that he may play both De Villiers and Gayle and have Kedar Jadhav keep wickets.
Asked if it was conscious decision to not travel with the team in the first two games, Kohli replied in an affirmative. “I just wanted to let the guys focus on their game and then do their work on the sidelines,” adding that he liked staying away from limelight.