India, Feb. 6 -- Fans in attendance at Nagpur's VCA Stadium were in for a major dose of disappointment when they discovered that Virat Kohli would not play in Thursday's first ODI of the three-match series between India and England. Kohli looked set to play his first ODI since August of last year but will have to extend his wait after a sore knee derailed his plans. The nature of the injury was uncertain. The only thing relating the word 'injury' to Kohli over the last 15-odd days was his neck, which was reportedly not 100 per cent, due to which Virat skipped Delhi's Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra.

But nothing seemed to be wrong with Kohli in the lead-up to the series opener. In fact, it was only the evening before when Kohli felt...