The upper back spasm that ruled Virat Kohli out of the second Test against South Africa could be a recurrence of the slip disc problem that prevented him from playing English county cricket in 2018.
The Indian captain missed out on what would be his 99th Test for the country on the morning of the second match against South Africa, adding to the interesting drama that unfolds around him on an almost daily basis now.
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It was a good net session at the captain’s Sunday afternoon at the Wanderers and coach Rahul Dravid, as he is used to, left little to no indication that the captain had issues mitigating those issues again after almost three-and-a-half years. have come to the fore. ,
In fact, Kohli had posted a few snap-shots from his training session where he was seen moving forward and playing on-drive. It was clear that he was feeling fine as he had gone through an intense net session on the morning of the Test match only to develop restlessness.
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Interestingly, his IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore had tweeted a picture of KL Rahul with the caption, “Focus goes to the Wanderers as #TeamIndia have a chance to seal the series.”
There is nothing wrong with the tweet, except the fact that it was posted at 12 noon, at least an hour before Rahul revealed the injury status of Kohli, which was done by Rahul, who is RCB Not part of the set-up. Although to be fair to him, it did not mention Rahul as India’s captain.
Kohli’s back pain is not new.
In 2018, he was suffering from a condition called ‘herniated disc’ (slip disc) and the doctor advised him not to play county cricket for Surrey if he wanted to be a part of the Test series after that.
The condition did not require surgery, which could have put her out for good for three to four months.
Read also: Kohli has been exceptional in his run-making
Back cramps are sudden stiffness and pain in the back muscles. This can be due to overuse or injury of the muscles.
In the case of Kohli, who is a fitness freak and pushes his body to the limit, the chances of a back injury are always high and as one reaches his mid-30s, it takes longer to recover.
If Kohli recovers within a week to play the third and final Test in Cape Town, it would mean it was not too serious, just like Ajinkya Rahane’s hamstring problem ruled him out of the Wankhede Test. , a day later when he had a session at the BKC Indoor Centre.
With India leading 1-0, Kohli wanted to play the game and get back to form, which has eluded him for almost two years now.
He was seen walking around the bull ring before the start of the game and looked disheartened when he missed a game.
If runs have dried up on the field, his off-the-field ties with the BCCI have not made it easy for him at all as the poster boys of the establishment are no longer very good with the big wigs of the board.
Someone like Dravid, who has always preferred a healthy distance from controversies, admitted that Kohli is “phenomenal” around the group despite all the “noise” around him.
It was acknowledged that the mighty Indian Test captain is under pressure and perhaps a series win and at least a three-figure score or something close to it will take a huge load off his chest.
Kohli must have addressed the media ahead of the Cape Town Test, starting January 11, had it been his 100th historic match in the traditional format. This is what Dravid had promised on the eve of the second Test.
Once a “back spasm” kept him out of contention for the second Test, it doesn’t look like the best of times for the megastar, who as a batsman has been grappling with on-field and off-field differences with the establishment .
Now it cannot be said with any certainty whether he will be in a mood to question the media before his 99th Test.
In any case, the degree of relevance between 99 and 100 is so vast, one can only wonder what exactly are the possibilities that it cannot come up with.
But then Kohli is a non-conformist and can do exactly what no one is asking him to do.
If India wins the series in South Africa, what is left for this maverick superstar to achieve. There might be some more surprises for the cricket lovers and at this point of time no one can guess what the outcome might be in the coming few months.
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