Kohli's fitness Test on June 22; Hardik out of England ODIs

NEW DELHI: Star batter Virat Kohli is progressing well in his recovery from the right hamstring injury sustained during the IPL and will report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) on June 22 for re-evaluation and further planning.

It has been learnt that a member of the CoE sports science team visited the United Kingdom to assess Kohli's fitness status before handing him a rehabilitation programme. Kohli resides in London with his family.

He had sustained a hamstring niggle during the IPL final against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.

"Virat Kohli is progressing well following right hamstring injury sustained in the IPL. He was assessed by the CoE team in London and handed over the program to continue in the initial phase of rehab and he will report to the CoE on 22nd June 2026 for re-evaluation, further planning and subsequent clearance," the fitness update from COE's sports science team sent to the selection committee and team management stated.

"Virat will get the fitness clearance after a fitness test on Monday in Bengaluru. Before that he is doing a promotional event in Delhi on Sunday," a BCCI source aware of developments told PTI.

Incidentally in 2025, when Indian Test squad was in London, the support staff members had evaluated his fitness as he had back then already announced his retirement from red ball format.

Pandya won't travel to England

Meanwhile, all-rounder Hardik Pandya hasn't recovered from the quadriceps strain sustained before the Afghanistan ODI series. He is not in a position to bowl his full quota of overs and has been ruled out of the England ODI series.

Pandya will more time before returning to full fitness.

"Hardik Pandya has not been able to attain requisite amount of bowling volume and conditioning required for an ODI format and will require more time to regain complete fitness for an ODI," said a source.

All other players who are in selection contention are fit.

The ODI team will be announced once selectors get final update on Kohli' availability.