Injury scare for Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma explains why India batter is missing IND vs ENG 1st ODI in Nagpur

Virat Kohli missed India's first ODI against England in Nagpur on Thursday due to an injury. According to reports, the star batter sustained a knee injury during training on Wednesday. With Virat Kohli not making it to the playing XI, Yashasvi Jaiswal made his ODI debut.

The former India captain, Virat Kohli, was seen with a strapping on his right knee and had a light training session in the lead-up to the first ODI. "Unfortunately Virat isn't playing, he had a knee problem last night," India captain Rohit Sharma revealed during the coin toss.

The three-match ODI series against England is India's final preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Meanwhile, pacer Mohammed Shami returns to ODI action for the first time since India's World Cup final against Australia on November 19.

Mohammed Shami, who was the leading wicket-taker (24) for India in the tournament, made his International comeback in the T20I series against England, which India recently won 4-1. This is India’s first ODI since August 2024, when they lost a three-match series 0-2 to Sri Lanka.

Ravi Shastri mentioned during commentary that Virat Kohli had a sore knee and swelling last night. With the mega Champions Trophy soon, the Indian team management is unwilling to risk any further injury to their star batter.

Virat Kohli played for Delhi in their Ranji Trophy match against Railways last month. He could score only six off 15 balls on his return to domestic cricket after more than 12 years.

India vs England first ODI playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami

England: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (w), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood