'What will happen now?' - Aakash Chopra on team combination after Virat Kohli's return in Cuttack ODI

Virat Kohli missed the first ODI against England due to a knee problem, and there were doubts over his inclusion in the second ODI on Sunday, February 09. But India’s batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak confirmed that the star batter is fully fit and will play the second game. Though the news is welcoming, it has also left the management pondering over the impending change in team combination.

Virat’s absence brought two major changes to the team, as Yashasvi Jaiswal made his debut and opened the innings, while Shubman Gill was demoted to number three. Another change was Shreyas joining the playing XI, and he scored a brisk half century during the crisis moment. If the former India skipper gets back in the XI, either of Jaiswal or Iyer have to be dropped. Speaking of the same, former India cricketer, raised concerns over the conundrum which has been created in the middle order.

“Kohli fit, Kohli in, but who goes out? That's the big question because if Kohli had been fit in the last match, Shreyas Iyer wouldn't have played. It means the team's game plan was to have Yashasvi with Rohit (Sharma), a left-right combination. So where would (Shubman) Gill have played and what will they do now? Virat Kohli not playing in the last match hurt you a little as he never misses matches because of fitness,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

“He (Virat) is very rarely unfit. He had a neck issue in January, and that's why he didn't play the Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra. After that, something happened in his knee when he was about to play here. We came to know later who played in his place. We all felt Yashasvi had been played in his place and made to open for one match. However, Shreyas Iyer revealed that he was watching a movie and got a phone call to get ready as Virat Kohli wouldn't play. He was ready and hit a lot. What will happen now?,” he added.

India’s squad for the ODI series against England

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy