ENG vs IND 2018: Stiff Back Prevents Virat Kohli From Batting At Number Four At Lord's

India has suffered a huge blow in their bid to save the ongoing second England vs India Test as their talismanic skipper Virat Kohli could not come out to bat in the second innings due to a stiff back that forced him to remain outside the field.

Luck seems to have completely deserted India in England. Things are getting worse with every passing day in the ongoing Test series. And on Sunday, they had a mighty scare when their batting mainstay and skipper Kohli did not come to the field when the fourth day’s play began.

Centurion Chris Woakes and Sam Curran began the proceedings with the bat on day four with the scoreboard reading at 357/6. But even as the entire Indian team came out to field, Kohli was missing while Ravindra Jadeja took his place. Ajinkya Rahane, who is India’s Test vice-captain, took the role of the captain with Kohli missing the action due to a stiff back.

England, nonetheless, declared their innings on 396 for 7 after Hardik Pandya dismissed Curran.

India, trailing the hosts by 289 runs, began their second innings on a disastrous note. Even before India could open their account, James Anderson sent back Murali Vijay for a duck. KL Rahul also soon followed Vijay in the dressing room after being dismissed by Anderson.

And then Ajinkya Rahane had to come out in place of Kohli due to the rules. Kohli will not be able to come out to bat for 37 minutes as he spent that much time off the field while England were batting.

Ajinkya Rahane is currently in to bat at four for @BCCI with Virat Kohli not allowed to take to the crease until 12:23 having been off the field this morning.

Follow the action ➡️ https://t.co/d73vbDTigu#ENGvIND#LoveLords pic.twitter.com/2Hkrstnp8o

— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) August 12, 2018