Virat skips warm-up session, doesn't bat in nets and spends more time with physio to raise doubts over his fitness; Iyer called in as cover for injured skipper
Virat Kohli with physiotherapist Patrick Farhart during a practice session in Dharamsala yesterday. Pic/PTI
Team India physiotherapist Patrick Farhart was everywhere skipper Virat Kohli went. With his shoulder strapped heavily, Kohli first skipped the warm-up session and spent a while discussing something with Farhart, head coach Anil Kumble, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach Ramkrishnan Sridhar.
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After that, the India skipper attempted to bat against couple of gentle throwdowns before quickly giving up on the idea and joined Kumble to have a look at the pitch. That was unlike Kohli, because in the entire series when the pitches were a hot topic of conversation, he never once ventured anywhere near the 22-yard stretch. But in Dharamsala, he took a close look at what was on offer.
Standing close to Kohli and Co. was national selector Sarandeep Singh, who seemed to be observing everything very closely before disappearing into the dressing room behind Kohli and Farhart.
But it is the animated discussion between Kohli and vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane along with senior statesman Ravichandran Ashwin that seemed to indicate that there were some doubts on the Indian skipper's participation in Saturday's series-decider. Later in the evening, Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer was called as cover for Kohli. The doubts over Kohli's fitness were compounded by the fact that he did not bat in the nets when his teammates were going through the grind. The skipper was still in a jovial mood as he sat besides his teammates during the nets session before making his way to the dressing room again followed by Farhart.
Kohli now faces a Catch 22 situation. He would like to play in such an important fixture, but would also want to live by his own rules of picking players that are 100 per cent fit.
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