ENG vs IND 2018: Virat Kohli Has To Play Unless He Can't Bend Or Walk: Sunil Gavaskar

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar said Virat Kohli should play the third England vs India Test even if he is not fully fit.

The Indian team is facing a herculean task if they are looking to bounce back and save the ongoing series in England. The hosts are already two-nil up in the five-match series after winning the second game by an innings and 159 runs. England had thoroughly dominated the game to wrap it up inside four days despite the first day being washed out and several rain-interruptions.

The Indian batsmen once again looked lost against the moving deliveries. In the first innings, India was all out for just 107. In reply, England posted 396 for 7 before declaring. Trailing by 289 runs, India were all out for just 130. But that was not the end to their miseries as their talismanic skipper Virat Kohli suffered a injury scare.

Kohli did not come out to field on day four and batted at number five due to a stiff back. He looked uncomfortable throughout as he lied flat on the ground, received treatment and banged the turf with his fist. The reaction was perhaps of a captain who knew that his team was entirely dependent on him in batting.

And Gavaskar feels Kohli should play the third Test even if he is not fully fit.

“The morale of the team would be low if you are 0-2 down. If they play out of their skins, they can still win the next three Tests. It won’t be easy to beat England. But the good news is that Virat is confident of playing in the next Test,” Gavaskar told India Today.

“Virat Kohli has to assess his injury himself.. whether to take the risk or not.. But if I were the captain, I would want Kohli to play even if he’s 50 per cent fit. He’s such a crucial element. He has to play unless he can’t bend or walk.

“At the end of the day he has to decide how much pain can he bear. For me Virat has to play,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kohli has said he would recover in time to play the next game.

“Five days to go, (I) should be okay. (It’s the) lower back issue coming up again and again, purely because of the workload. Confident I’ll be fine in five days’ time,” Kohli had said at the presentation ceremony.

Kohli’s presence in the team is paramount if India are eyeing a comeback. The 29-year old has been the only bright spark for India in this series as far as the batting department is concerned. He has faced 32% of all balls faced by India in the series so far, while M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane put together have faced only 34%. Eight of India’s top 10 partnerships involve Kohli.

The third Test between India and England begins on August 18 at Trent Bridge.