Team India Test skipper Virat Kohli might be on his way to recover rather sooner than later as he was seen having some light batting practice as he readies himself to be fit in the time ahead of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, starting Tuesday, January 11.
Kohli, who was set to play his 99th Test at Johannesburg missed out on the game due to an upper back spasm after the stand-in skipper KL Rahul came out at the toss and informed the same. Rahul became the 34th player to captain India in Test matches as he was elevated to the role of Kohli’s deputy after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury.
Kohli may not be playing the game but he has been seen cheering for the teammates from the dressing room, talking to the players from the boundary. After a couple of days, Kohli was seen having warm-ups and some stretching exercises ahead of Day 3 of the ongoing Test match before he picked up the bat to practice against throwdowns.
Kohli did some stretches holding the bat before he played the usual strokes with the straighter bat. Head coach Rahul Dravid offered him some throwdowns to get in some rhythm.
Kohli, who missed the first Test against New Zealand as he took a break after a long grinding schedule, was supposed to play his 100th Test at the Newlands but both he and his fans will have to wait for a few more days as the landmark game will now take place in Bengaluru against Sri Lanka, next month.
With both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane playing crucial knocks in the second innings at Johannesburg, the team management will have a tough decision on their hands if Kohli is fit to play the third Test.
