Home Articles Is Virat Kohli fit to play 5th T20I? Team India’s likely playing...
KEY STORY
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India will aim to register a hat-trick of the T20I series win over England when they host Eoin Morgan and Co. in the series-decider later today. The Men in Blue won the 4th T20I to keep their chances alive. The victory in the 4th T20I also saw them become the first side to register a win while bowling second in the series.
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Defending 185, India restricted England at 177/8, thus winning the game by 8 runs. Both the teams have everything to play for in the final game. Going into the 5th T20I, there are some questions over Virat Kohli’s fitness as the Indian skipper spent some time off the field during England’s chase two days back.
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So is he fit to play the series-decider? And will India bring back Ishan Kishan and Yuzvendra Chahal? Here’s a look at Team India’s likely playing XI for the 5th T20I –
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Despite his below-par performance in the T20 series so far, KL Rahul is likely to be backed on one more occasion, which means he will kick off the proceedings with Rohit Sharma. Since Suryakumar scored a brilliant half-century, Ishan might stay out even if he is fit. The left-handed batsman had missed the 4th T20I due to a groin strain.
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All eyes will be on Captain Kohli, who aggravated his upper quad while fielding. After the 4th T20I, Kohli had hinted that he will be fit, and will lead the side in the series-decider.
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“I ran for a ball, I dived and I threw it, so I was probably not in the best position. I just moved out to the outfield, earlier I was fielding in the inner ring. And the temperature drops pretty quickly, so your body tends to get stiff. So I just aggravated my upper quad a little bit and I didn’t want to make it into a niggle or an injury,” he said two days back.
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“It’s nothing serious. I should be fine by the day after tomorrow because we have the game in the evening. So probably took a smarter decision to come off and not sprint five-six more times and probably do it more because we have an important game coming up.”
CONCLUSION
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Since he has been named in the ODI squad, it looks like Kohli is fit and will also play the final T20I of the series.
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The rest of the lineup is expected to remain the same, which means no place for Yuzvendra Chahal again. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the pace attack and will be assisted by Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya.
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Washington Sundar will do the all-round duties with Rahul Chahar doing the leg-spin job.
Team India’s likely playing XI for 5th T20I: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakuamar Yadav, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Rahul Chahar
