World Cup 2019: Virat Kohli, Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla & Lungi Ngidi injury updates ahead of India-South Africa clash

There are only a couple of days left for India's World Cup opening clash against South Africa and the excitement for the match seems to be building every minute. The excitement might just sky-rocket given that skipper Virat Kohli has been passed fit for the all-important match against South Africa.

This news comes after some uncertainty about Virat Kohli's availability for the first match. Virat Kohli hurt his thumb during a practice session on Saturday. However, thankfully for the Indian team and its dedicated fans, the team management has given up a thumbs up for one of the star batsmen.

It was not just India who were fretting over the fitness of some important players. India's opposition for their opening clash, South Africa, also had their fair share of injury-related problems in the form of Hashim Amla, Lungi Ngidi and Dale Steyn. Hashim Amla got concussed during South Africa's first match against England. Amla was beaten for pace by Jofra Archer's bouncer and took a hard blow to his helmet. Amla returned to bat for the last few overs but he was deemed unfit for South Africa's most recent match against Bangladesh.

As a result, South Africa didn't take a risk with Hashim Amla for the match against Bangladesh. "During the last match, he sustained a blow to the to the helmet," said Dr Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa's team doctor.

"When he came off the field he was assessed. There were concussion assessment tests done as well as various computerised assessments done. Initially, the results were what we call inconclusive."

However, according to Dr. Moosajee, Amla will return to full fitness ahead of the clash against India.

"Repeat tests were done about an hour later which were much clearer than the ones before, and that's why the decision was made to let him go out there and bat. Subsequent to the match, the next day, he felt some symptoms and there for as a precaution, we decided to rest him from this game. The plan is to get him ready for the match against India on Wednesday in Southampton," said Dr. Moosajee.

Meanwhile, Lungi Ngidi injured his hamstring during the match against Bangladesh. Ngidi was only able to bowl 4 overs before he limped off the field.

Dr. Mohammed Moosajee confirmed the same and announced that Ngidi would be forced to miss South Africa's clash against India. "He was assessed and clinically we felt that he had a left hamstring strain," he said. "We decided not to let him go out there and bowl any further in this match.

"So currently, it probably means that he'll be out for about a week to 10 days, but we'll have scans done tomorrow. The plan will be probably to get him ready for the West Indies match."

However, South Africa received some good news as Moosajee announced that Dale Steyn might return to action against India.

"The plan was always to try to get him ready for the India or the West Indies game," Moosajee added. "He's making decent progress. We'll make a call before the India game as to where he is currently."

Apart from Ngidi's unavailability, both India and South Africa have largely received good fitness reports. This will gladden the fans of the respective teams as the majority wish for a competitive match between two sides at full-strength.

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