Virat Kohli is fit and will play in the second ODI against England in Cuttack. Shreyas Iyer, who was the last minute inclusion in the team’s Playing XI due to Kohli’s knee injury, is likely to sit out of the upcoming contest. However, India’s new batting coach Sitanshu Kotak refused to reveal anything and put the onus on captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir.

“Virat Kohli is fit to play in the second game. He came for practice and looked good,” Kotak said during the pre-match media interaction.

He was unsure about who Kohli will replace in the Playing XI. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to get going in the series opener but Shreyas Iyer’s attacking fifty kept the Men in Blue ahead. He scored 59 runs off 36 balls as India registered a 4-wicket win over the rivals.

“The head coach and captain will decide. The left-right combination is important but I am not the right person to answer about it,” he added.

Rohit’s form is troubling India but Kotak has a different viewpoint.

“I don’t think Rohit Sharma is struggling in ODIs.

He scored 56, 64, and 35 in the previous three ODIs before the opening game against England,” he mentioned.

“He has been averaging 50 in those matches and we are talking about a cricketer who has hit 31 hundreds in one-day internationals. When he performs, no one says anything. I know he hasn’t been good in Test cricket in recent times but he has shown consistency in the fifty-over format,” he concluded.