Injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar May be Out For 2-3 Games: Virat Kohli

Bhuvneshwar Kumar injured his left hamstring and has been ruled out of the match against Pakistan.

(Photo: AP)

India posted a solid 336/5 against Pakistan in Sunday, 16 June’s World Cup but the start of the Pakistani innings saw Virat’s team suffer a major setback with Bhuvneshwar Kumar being ruled out of the rest of the match due to an injury.

Bhuvneshwar was handed the new ball and bowled the first four overs in tamdem with Jasprit Bumrah, even toughing speeds of 144kph.

However, right before the fourth ball of the fifth over, Kumar pulled up midway through his run-up and caught his left hamstring and immediately went off the field.

Upon leaving the field, he was examined by team physio Patrick Farhart and a decision was taken to keep him off the field.

The team's designated 12th man Ravindra Jadeja took the field for the remainder of the Pakistan run chase. The over was completed by Vijay Shankar who incidentally picked a wicket off the first ball, sending back Imam-ul-Haq on 7.

Bhuvneshwar didn't return to the field for the rest of the match as India won the game by 89 runs.

In the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli gave an update on his fast bowler.

“Slight niggle because of slipping on the footmarks. It doesn’t look too serious at the moment. We’re going to give it some time. Hopefully he will be ready in a couple of games, if not, max by 3 games from now. He’s going to be a very important factor for us so hopefully he can recover on time. He himself feels that the niggle is not too bad.”

Virat Kohli

The Indian skipper added that they will include Mohammad Shami who is raring to go. "He is going to be an important factor for us so hopefully he can recover in time. But we have Shami with us and it shouldn't be much of a worry for us. Even Bhuvi doesn't think his niggle is too bad and that time would heal it," he added.

Bhuvneshwar’s injury is the second setback for the Indian team after Shikhar Dhawan too sustained an injury during the tournament. Dhawan has suffered a hairline fracture on his thumb and is out for a minimum period of two weeks.

(With inputs from IANS)