England vs India: Back sprain keeps Virat Kohli off the field; Rahane takes the charge

On day 4 of the Lord’s Test, the Indian team took the field again as Joe Root decided to continue batting. England with a lead of over 250 runs was expected to declare overnight considering a heavy forecast for rain. But they did not and as the Indian players stepped on attempting to bowl them out as cheaply as possible it was Ajinkya Rahane who was commanding the troops.

Virat Kohli’ back troubles

Before the start of day’s play captain Virat Kohli was there in the team huddle, addressing his players and gave the team, a pep talk but didn’t walk out to the field. Reports now suggest that the Indian skipper is struggling with a back sprain and thus Ravindra Jadeja took the field in his place. Late yesterday evening he had spent some time on the sidelines having experienced some uneasiness.

As far as the proceedings of the Test match are concerned, not a lot has gone as Kohli planned. First up they opted to play two spinners on a wicket and in conditions that best suit seam bowlers. The Indian team being asked to bat first on day 2, lived a nightmare as James Anderson ran through half their team.

They were bowled out for 107 runs as rain interrupted the proceedings at regular intervals and overcast conditions made life tougher for the batsmen. Kohli was the second-best scorer in the innings with his knock of 23 and despite showing a lot of resolute against the first line of attack was bagged by Chris Woakes.

For the English bowlers, it was just a matter of 35.2 overs before they sent all the Indians back to the pavilion. The conditions changed drastically on day 3, the sun was out and it was an ideal setting for the batters to pile on the runs.

Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma bowled exceptionally and England were five down for 131 but that’s when Jonny Bairstow and Woakes got together and produced a 189-run partnership. While the all-rounder scored his maiden international hundred, Bairstow fell just seven short.

Their partnership made sure Indians were on the field for 81 overs on the day before bad light resulted in early stumps.

Kohli has been exceptional with the bat and the only visiting batsman who has challenged the English pacers with his hard work and disciplined application. The team will want their skipper to be back in the second innings as they will face an uphill task of clearing out a deficit of 300 runs to avert an innings defeat.

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