CUTTACK: Even before the India team reached the Barabati Stadium for practice, the venue started to fill. As the players went about their drills, the crowd went crazy. Coach Gautam Gambhir was having an animated discussion with captain Rohit Sharma, some were warming up yet all eyes were on one player — Virat Kohli, who missed the last one-day match against England in Nagpur due to a sore knee.

It was natural when batting coach Sitanshu Kotak walked in for the customary pre-match conference. The first question was about the star batter. “Kohli is fit, yes, he is practicing with us today, he is good to go,” Kotak confirmed on Saturday.

Out in the middle, Kohli padded up and spent some time at the nets, cheered on by more than 20,000 fans. He began with short sprints, without any strapping on his legs, moved with ease and he also batted in the nets and did not look in any discomfort either.

Kotak joined Gambhir and Sharma in their discussion. The India captain fell early in Nagpur continuing his poor run from the longer format. However, Kotak is not worried too much. “I personally don’t see any issue with his form. In his last three ODIs, Rohit has scored 56 (58), 64, and 35 (in Sri Lanka last year). We are talking about a player who has 31 ODI centuries. When someone keeps scoring, no one questions when they will fail they do,” Kotak said, before adding, “Sometimes when somebody gets out or is going through a lean patch, I don’t think I would be worried about their form. Yes, in Australia Test series – that was a tough time. About the one-dayers, the way he batted in the last three one-dayers before the first match (in Nagpur), he has always been scoring runs. So, not really so much concern about that.”