Injury scare for Virat Kohli ahead of first T20I against Sri Lanka

Team India was faced with a big injury scare on the eve of the first T20I against Sri Lanka when their captain Virat Kohli was hit by the ball on his little finger. The Indian cricket team was training at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati when the 30-year-old was seen struggling with the pain. The incident happened when he was attempting a high catch and soon was seen in pain.

The Indian physio soon rushed to Kohli and was seen applying spray-on fingers of the batsman. The injury did not look much serious and it has been confirmed that Kohli will play the first game of the new year for India. The Men in Blue will be the favorites against a depleted Sri Lankan side which has not been performing well in international cricket in all three formats.

Another talking point from Team India’s net session was the absence of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja but the reason behind that was not an injury. As per NDTV Sports, Jadeja could not be of a part of the training as he arrived in Guwahati much later than the team.

The three-match series will see the return of India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who will be playing his first competitive game since the tour of West Indies last year.

Bumrah was a part of the team for the home Test series against South Africa but he suffered a back injury which kept him out of the set-up for close to three months. In his absence, players like Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur have got chances at the highest level.

Also, with Rohit Sharma having rested himself from the series, the opening partnership will be between Shikhar Dhawan, who is also returning from an injury, and KL Rahul, who partnered Rohit at the top when Dhawan was injured. Not much of Dhawan has been since in international cricket since the ICC ODI World Cup 2019 and it remains to be seen how he fares. As for KL Rahul, he was impressive in the series against the West Indies.