Kevin Pietersen opens up on craze for Virat Kohli in Nagpur Stadium despite missing 1st ODI

In the first ODI between India and England at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, there was a lot of excitement for star Indian batsman Virat Kohli to return to the 50-over format after a few months away. To everyone’s amazement, though, captain Rohit Sharma declared that Kohli would not be playing in today’s match because of an injury he had sustained the previous evening.

Abhinav Mukund and Parthiv Patel joined former English batter Kevin Pietersen on the broadcasters’ discussion panel during the mid-innings break.

At that point, Pietersen, a former colleague of Virat Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, made a statement regarding the latter’s impact on the game.

In addition, he pointed out that Kohli’s name was frequently sung in the crowd before and during the game, and that the great bulk of Indian fans at the VCA were wearing Indian Blues with his name behind them.

“The player gets bigger as the game gets bigger. He’s as huge as they come. As a result, there will be a large crowd. I am aware that many schoolchildren will be seated in the upper stands, and there will be numerous “Virat Kohli” signs. Many people are sporting Virat’s tees. After England’s batting, Pietersen said, “You drive to the ground, it’s just Virat Virat Virat all around.”

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— MR. FIX IT (@Bikis18__) February 6, 2025

India had an easy victory.

After restricting England to 248 runs, England made an early impression by getting rid of the first six batsmen. But the hosts were put in a comfortable position by a 94-run partnership between Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. India ended up winning the match with 68 balls remaining and four wickets. Barabati Stadium in Cuttack will host the next game, and India will be hoping that Kohli will be healthy enough to play.