The one thing India cannot afford in this Test series against Australia, so wonderfully poised, is Virat Kohli suffering an injury. Well, there was a big scare in that particularly-worrying department, with Kohli walking off injured to the dressing room in the second session of day one of the third Test in Ranchi.
Third Test, Day 1 score update
With Steven Smith and Peter Handscombe putting on a nice partnership for Australia, and India looking to strangle the runs, Kohli shot off quickly to try and prevent a boundary after Handscombe flicked a Ravindra Jadeja delivery through midwicket and mid-on.
Kohli stopped the ball, but in the process, landed heavily on his right shoulder.
Such was the pain that Kohli did not even bother to pick up the ball and throw it back, with R Ashwin having to do that, after running behind Kohli from midwicket.
There was a lot of wincing in pain from the India captain, and while he seemed okay enough to pick up his fallen cap and sunglasses, he also kept rubbing his shoulder.
The India physio Patrick Farhart came running down from the dressing room and after a bit of a talk with the captain, Kohli walked back to the change rooms to get some treatment.
Ajinkya Rahane, the India vice-captain, had to take over the captaincy duties as Kohli received treatment, with the captain, an over later, shown sitting in the dressing room with a big ice pack on his right shoulder.
Kohli could also be seen practicing some shots (without the bat), just to see how much that shoulder was troubling him.
After a while, the ice pack would be taken out, even if the captain remained in the dressing room, not coming out for the remainder of the day.
India's fielding coach R Sridhar, talking to reporters after the day's play, said the extent of the injury would be known only after results of scans come out.
"The exact status of Virat's injury will be known by tomorrow morning," Sridhar said. "He is going to undergo scans later today."
Those scans have revealed no major damage to the shoulder, with the BCCI confirming in a statement on Thursday night that Kohli would be fit enough to play the rest of the Test match.
It is clear that the captain won't be at a 100 per cent -- the release also said Kohli would continue receiving treatment -- and it remains to be seen if the decision has been made due to Kohli's importance to the side or because he actually is A-OK to continue.
Watch the incident HERE
