Kohli’s injury may hurt India

Dharamasala, The apple of the Australian media’s eye, Virat Kohli, missed the nets today, raising questions overs his availability for the fourth and final Test, which begins here on Saturday.
In fact, Mumbai’s rising star Shreyas Iyer has been called as cover for Kohli, just in case the Indian captain is unable to recover from the shoulder injury he suffered on the first day of the third Test in Ranchi.
During the India nets here today, Kohli faced only a few throwdowns from the net bowlers and then retired to watch the action from the sidelines.
Kohli, with a taped right shoulder, tried out a few balls, apparently to check how comfortable he was while swinging the bat. Later, he was seen having a lengthy chat with physio Patrick Farhart and coach Anil Kumble. Kohli ended the training session with light jogging along with his teammates.
Mohammed Shami, who joined the squad in Ranchi, bowled with vigour in the nets along with Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin.
With one full day to go for the series-decider, Kohli just could be looking to rest his shoulder, which he injured on March 16 while trying to save a boundary in Ranchi.
Since then, even with an injury, he has managed to rile the Australians with some over-the-top celebrations. Having scored just 46 runs in five innings in this series, Kohli would be desperate to cap the 13-Test home season with a big knock here.
Iyer’s here
The 22-year-old Iyer has been in good form in the current first class season. He made 725 runs in the Ranji Trophy, with a highest of 194 and 96 runs in the final. He also made two centuries for India A last month — an exact 100 before retiring against Bangladesh, and a rousing 202 not out against Australia.
Iyer has been seen as a noted talent right from his junior cricket days. Will he make his Test debut in Dharamsala? That depends on how Kohli is feeling on match day morning — but the captain is likely to play even if not 100 percent fit.