• Source:JND

India batting great Virat Kohli, who is forced to miss the ongoing ODI series against Afghanistan due to a hamstring injury will likely to be included in India's squad for the upcoming England tour. Kohli suffered the injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final, but recent reports suggest that his recovery is progressing faster than expected.

According to a report by The Times of India, Kohli is likely to return to India soon for a fitness assessment at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. The fitness test will play a key role in determining his availability for the upcoming ODI series against England.

A source quoted in the report said that Kohli has already started his rehabilitation process and is making good progress. The source added that the injury is healing quickly and he is expected to undergo fitness clearance in the coming days.

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The BCCI is expected to announce India’s squad for the England ODI series shortly. On June 18, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that the selection committee would meet within the next few days to finalise the squad.

The report also stated that Kohli has been consulting renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwalla, who is based in Mumbai. Earlier this month, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had also expressed confidence that Kohli should be available for the England ODIs.

How Did Kohli’s Replacement Perform?

For the Afghanistan ODI series, Yashasvi Jaiswal was brought into the squad as Kohli’s replacement. In the second ODI, Jaiswal opened the innings with Rohit Sharma, while captain Shubman Gill moved down to No. 3.

However, Jaiswal could not make a big impact and was dismissed for a single-digit score. Gill, on the other hand, played a brilliant knock of 154 runs. It remains unclear whether Jaiswal will feature in the third and final ODI on June 20.

Kohli Eyes Dhoni’s Record Against England

The ODI series against England will begin on July 14 at Edgbaston in Birmingham after the conclusion of the five-match T20I series.

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Kohli has a realistic chance of overtaking MS Dhoni as India’s highest run-scorer against England in ODI cricket. Former West Indies opener Chris Gayle currently holds the overall record with 1,632 runs against England.

Among Indian batters, Dhoni leads the list with 1,546 runs, followed by Yuvraj Singh with 1,523 and Sachin Tendulkar with 1,455. Kohli is currently fourth with 1,397 runs from 38 ODIs against England, including three centuries and 10 half-centuries.

The 37-year-old needs just 150 more runs in the three-match series to move past Dhoni and become India’s leading ODI run-scorer against England.

Interestingly, the last time Kohli played an ODI at Edgbaston was during the 2019 ODI World Cup, where he scored 26 runs. Overall, he has registered three fifties in seven ODI appearances at the Birmingham venue.


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