What’s the story?
Ranchi's cricket fans turned up in large numbers outside the local hospital where Indian captain Virat Kohli was taken for a shoulder scan, reported NDTV sports. Kohli was well-safeguarded by armed men, who made sure he was safely escorted from the hospital to his car.
One of the most loved Indian cricketers, the 28-year old was greeted by flashbulbs and chants of ‘Kohli-Kohli’, but he didn't interact with the fans and quickly made his way to the car.
In case you didn’t know…
An injured Virat Kohli left the field on Thursday, in the 40th over of the Australian innings, after hurting his right shoulder after awkwardly landing near the mid-on boundary rope in his attempt to save a Peter Handscomb boundary.
He was taken to a local hospital in the Jharkhand capital where a scan revealed a "strain" but BCCI’s statement said there was "no serious concern" about his injury.
The heart of the matter
Considering Kohli's vitality to the Indian outfit in the delicately poised Border-Gavaskar series, there was huge interest in his injury update, not just among the media but also in MS Dhoni’s city Ranchi, which made its Test debut yesterday.
A twitter handle by the name of Yash Chawla uploaded a video of the fan mob outside the hospital. The video further prompted former England captain Michael Vaughan to compare Kohli to Premier League footballers.
Virat, who was in the form of his life when he scored four double Test centuries in four consecutive series, hasn’t produced a stellar performance in the ongoing series so far. This has prompted critics to say that captaincy pressure is interfering with his natural game.
What’s next?
India trail Australia by 331 runs after Day 2 of the Ranchi Test. KL Rahul played a brilliant innings of 67 runs and Murali Vijay remained not out on 42 off 122 balls at the close of play. And in all likeliness, Virat Kohli will be back to the field tomorrow, if the fall of wickets demands.
Author’s Take
Kohli, once known as an arrogant man from the capital, has slowly but surely cemented his place not just in the team but also in the hearts of millions of fans, as is very evident from the Twitter video. The young Indian captain, who averages 50 and above in all three formats of the game, deserves all the love in return for his heroics for team India.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
