Mumbai: India, on Wednesday, were bolstered by the news of KL Rahul’s availability for the fourth Test against England. However, the Indian camp will continue to keep its fingers crossed as Mohammed Shami’s participation in the Mumbai Test is still under clouds.
In the pre-match conference, skipper Virat Kohli said that Rahul is fine.
"Rahul is fine. He and Murali Vijay being specialist openers in the squad will open the innings," said Kohli.
The Karnataka batsman was sidelined from the Mohali Test after he sustained a forearm injury during the second Test in Visakhapatna. In Rahul’s absence, Parthiv Patel opened the innings alongside Murai Vijay.
While Rahul’s full fitness is a big plus, Shami’s fitness remains a concern for Team India. Talking about Shami’s injury, Kohli said: “We are going to take a call in the evening in terms of how he (Shami) is feeling his knee. After the Mohali Test, he felt a bit of soreness in his knee. We would need to take a collective call on that because he has had a history of knee surgeries.”
“We don’t want to push a player to an extent where we will miss him for the whole season. We will take a call as how much rest he needs or whether he can go tomorrow. So, there’s still some time for that to decide,” concluded Kohli.
