Virat Kohli back problem is not serious, says Cheteshwar Pujara

Kohli hit 82 and shared in a third-wicket partnership of 170 with Pujara at the MCG on Thursday but appeared to be battling a back problem for much of his innings

Chetweshwar Pujara has played down injury concerns over Virat Kohli after the India captain was seen to be in pain during day two of the third Test against Australia.

Kohli hit 82 and shared in a third-wicket partnership of 170 with Pujara on Thursday but appeared to be battling a back problem for much of his innings.

The visiting skipper received on-field medical treatment and took a tablet during his knock, a worry given his recent history with back injuries.

However, at the end of the day centurion Pujara - who helped India reach 443 for 7 prior to their declaration - insisted that his captain is okay.

"I don't think it's serious," he said.

^{Cheteshwar Pujara shared in a partnership of 170 with Virat Kohli at the MCG}

"The cause of the injury, I'm obviously not a physio so I can't say much about it. But I don't think it's serious.

"We had a wonderful partnership today … so I'm really pleased with that."

Back troubles saw Kohli sit out matches on recent tours of England and South Africa, as well as preventing him from joining Surrey for a short spell of County Championship action in 2018.

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Still, he fought his way to within 18 runs of another Test century before being caught at third man by Aaron Finch off Mitchell Starc. Australia finished the day 435 runs behind on eight without loss.

"The conditions are really challenging and I had to work really hard to get a hundred," Pujara said.

"It took me almost four sessions to get a hundred. It's a challenging pitch … scoring was really difficult.

"To score 200 in a day is a tough task. And we saw today the pitch is starting to deteriorate and there's some variable bounce."

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