"We are in deep trouble without Bumrah and Kohli" - Fans react to Virat Kohli missing 1st IND vs ENG 2025 ODI due to injury

Star batter Virat Kohli has been ruled out of the opening ODI against England in Nagpur due to a knee injury. Team India skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed the news about Kohli's absence at the toss, much to the fans' surprise.

The 36-year-old has been in woeful form with back-to-back poor Test series against New Zealand at home and in Australia. Kohli then played for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy game against Railways a week back but scored only six runs in his lone innings.

Rohit said at the toss:

"Unfortunately Virat isn't playing, he had a knee problem last night."

India last played an ODI game in Sri Lanka in August last year, suffering a shocking 0-2 series defeat. Kohli struggled in the three matches, scoring only 58 runs at an average of under 20.

The three-match series against England will be the last set of games for India before the all-important Champions Trophy, starting February 19.

Most of the fans on Twitter could not believe Kohli's sudden injury absence and reacted as follows:

Fans continued reacting to Kohli's absence in the first ODI with one saying:

"No king Kohli No viewership."

"Feel for that crowd who wanted to watch Virat kohli yaar," tweeted a fan.

"Missing Virat Kohli badly, hope he gets back into the team before champions trophy otherwise we are in deep trouble without Bumrah and Kohli We'll have a group stage exit for sure," a fan said.

Yashasvi Jaiswal set to make ODI debut in Virat Kohli's absence

Virat Kohli's sudden injury means talented youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal will make his ODI debut in the series opener against England in Nagpur. Jaiswal has been sensational for India in the T20I and Test formats since his debut in 2023.

Along with Jaiswal, pacer Harshit Rana also will make his ODI debut, having just played his maiden T20I game in the preceding T20I series against England.

Meanwhile, ace batter Joe Root returned to England's ODI XI for the first time since the 2023 World Cup. Skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first as England looked to break out of their ODI slump.

The Men in Blue will field three spinners - Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, with two pacers - Harshit Rana and Mohammed Shami. The Nagpur outing will be India's first ODI game at home after the 2023 World Cup final against Australia.