India captain Virat Kohli hit the nets on Wednesday at Riverside, Durham even as Indians played a warm-up match at against County Select XI at the same venue. Durham Cricket shared a video where Kohli was seen batting in the nets during the lunch break on Day 2 of the warm-up game. “Hi @imVkohli! A lunch time net session for the @BCCI captain at Emirates Riverside,” Durham Cricket tweeted. Later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also shared a video on their Twitter handle of captain Kohli practicing in the nets at Durham. “Captain @imVkohli batting = Pure bliss #TeamIndia,” tweeted BCCI.

Captain @imVkohli batting = Pure bliss #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/5EUDxhLwgJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2021

Hi @imVkohli!

A lunch time net session for the @BCCI captain at Emirates Riverside.

Live stream https://t.co/vxbhwkBUGh pic.twitter.com/6puTlr7zO4

— Durham Cricket (@DurhamCricket) July 21, 2021

Kohli was not included in the Indian XI for the warm-up match as he experienced stiffness in his back on Day 1. Virat’s deputy in the Test team Ajinkya Rahane too was not the part of Indian XI after he had “mild swelling around his left upper hamstring”, BCCI said on Tuesday.

Both players are expected to regain full fitness before the first Test match against England starting August 4.

In the absence of the regular captain and vice-captain Rohit Sharma captained the Indians, who were all-out for 311 in the first innings.

Only KL Rahul (101) and Ravindra Jadeja (75) converted their good start to big scores while Mayank Agarwal (28), Hanuma Vihari (24), and Cheteshwar Pujara (21) failed to go big after spending some time at the crease.

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Rahul went on to score a brilliant hundred and made his case stronger for the spot in playing XI in the England Test series.

The first Test of the five-match Test series between India-England will start on August 4 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.