Virat Kohli to head to the hospital for scans tonight

Day 1 of the third Test match didn’t quite go India’s way. They lost the toss and Steve Smith quite gleefully decided to bat first. The Indian team was up for the challenge and struck thrice in the first session to ensure the momentum was with them at lunch. But while Smith batted really well there was something else that contributed to India’s worries.

Skipper Virat Kohli who is the spine of the team hurt his shoulder while fielding and was off the ground for the maximum part of the day. He will head to the hospital for scans to confirm the intensity of the injury. Virat who is always acrobatic on the field was chasing a stroke from Peter Handscomb that he had planted against Ravindra Jadeja.

The right-hander danced down the wicket and pushed the ball away from Kohli who was fielding at mid-on but the Indian skipper never likes to be out of play and gave the ball a real chase. There was the decisive moment for him to let the ball win the race or dive and attempt to save it.

He put in the dive and stopped the ball inside the boundary but as soon as he got on his feet held his right shoulder and didn’t bother to collect and throw the ball. The fielder backing him up did that but Virat was down and in pain. Indian team physio Patrick Farhart rushed to the spot and decided to take the skipper back to the dressing room with him which is an unusual sight in itself.

Virat was later seen in the dressing room wearing nothing but an ice bag on his shoulder as they tried to cool off the muscles around the shoulder. He was wearing his jersey back towards the tea break but didn’t take the field for the rest of the day after walking off in the 40th over.

Ajinkya Rahane was captaining the team in his absence but didn’t quite manage to live up to Virat’s standards. The team clearly lacked energy on the field after that incident and allowed Smith and Glenn Maxwell to stitch an unbeaten 159-run partnership that has placed them in the commanding position at the end of the day as the scoreboard reads 299/4 with Smith not out on 117 and a stable Maxwell batting on his best Test score of 2.

The Indian team will hope the injury is minor and the skipper resumes duty on day 2 as they not only need him on the field but also with the bat since Australia look set for a huge first inning total and India will have to bat really well to take lead in the Test match.