'It's nothing new': Virat Kohli opens up about his back injury

Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli played down fears of a back injury, which seemed to be troubling him during the ongoing Test series against Australia.

"I've had this issue since 2011, it's nothing new," he said while speaking to the media in Sydney ahead of the fourth Test.

"I've been able to manage it because of the physical effort I've put in over the past few years. And when you have a back that has these issues you can only maintain it that way."

While batting in the 3rd Test at Melbourne, Kohli was in pain just before he got dismissed for 82. He also received treatment from the physio at the time.

He also faced a similar back problem during India's tour to England as well, earlier this year. However, Kohli said that he was not too concerned about the back problems, adding that it's impossible for a player to keep going without niggles.

"If the workload gets high it can get into a spasm, I mean you don't necessarily get serious issues, you get fine in two or three days I'm not too concerned with it, you just have to manage it physically and stay ahead of the injury and I have been able to do it for now," he said.

"I'm sure I'll find other ways and more options to keep countering that. I mean, it's impossible to keep going without niggles and I think it's fine to have a few niggles here and there. You just need to be able to manage it," Kohli concluded.

India will take on Australia in the fourth and final Test of the series in Sydney from January 3. They are currently leading 2-1 after winning the first and third Tests and will be looking to create history by winning the final Test as well.

The team management named a 13-man squad for the final Test earlier today. Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma miss out from the squad while Ravichandran Ashwin makes a return.