Durham: India captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane were rested from India’s first class warm-up game against Select County XI which started Tuesday here. India took the field without their captain and vice-captain with Rohit Sharma leading the side in their absence. In a separate development pacer Avesh Khan took the field for the County XI side. However, after bowling a few overs, he suffered a thumb dislocation while attempting to stop a drive for Hanuma Vihari. It seems that he has been ruled out of the game for good.
The BCCI gave an update Kohli and Rahane’s conditions after both were rested along with Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“Kohli felt some stiffness in his back on late Monday evening and he has been advised rest from the first class warm-up game by the BCCI medical team. 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 warm-up game,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media statement.
“However, the BCCI medical team is monitoring him (Rahane), and he is expected to fully recover well in time for the first Test against England starting from 4th August at Nottingham,” Shah further stated.
Since this is a first class game, the option of just batting and not fielding is not there for the visitors.
Avesh playing for the County XI didn’t have a great first spell when Mayank Agarwal launched into him with a flurry of boundaries. However, Avesh bowled a better second and third spell. It was in his third spell during the post-lunch session that Avesh in reflex action tried to stop Vihari’s crushing bowler’s back-drive and hurt his thumb.
Avesh was seen writhing in pain and the Indian physio came out and thumb was immediately strapped. The commentators on Durham County’s ‘YouTube’ channel said that it could be a case of ‘thumb dislocation’.
India are wearing black armbands in the game to mourn the demise of former India cricketer and 1983 World Cup hero Yashpal Sharma. He died July 13 due to a cardiac arrest.