Kohli misses the series opener against England with an injury

Virat Kohli has been ruled out of the opening ODI against England in Nagpur due to a knee injury he picked up on the eve of the game. He was replaced by Yashsvi Jaiswal in the playing XI, who was making his ODI debut along with pacer Harshit Rana.

India skipper Rohit Sharma said at the toss that Kohli had injured his right knee while training on Wednesday. 

Jaiswal was included in the lineup to open alongside Rohit on the Indian Cricket Board’s team sheet with vice-captain Shubman Gill, who would have opened had Kohli been fit, listed at Number 4, though it remains to be seen if that order remains. India lost the toss and were fielding first in Nagpur.   

The three matches against the Three Lions are men in blue’s last ODIs before the inception of the Champions Trophy, starting from February 19. They have not had an ODI since last August, where they were beaten 2-0 by Sri Lanka. 

Kohli’s form has been a talking point in recent months and after a disappointing tour of Australia where all his dismissals were edges to the wicket-keeper or slip cordon, he spent some time working on his batting woes with ex-India and Benglauru’s batting coach, Sanjay Bangar. He then played a Ranji Trophy match for Delhi- his first appearance in the domestic tournament since 2012- where he was dismissed for 6 against Railways. 

However, ODI cricket is Kohli’s strongest format, and he only requires 94 runs to reach the 14,000-run mark in the format. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara have gotten there before, but Kohli is sure to become the fastest to the landmark.