India may have qualified for the semifinals of the ongoing 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, and they may have had a week-long break before their final league-stage match against the Netherlands on Sunday but both those aspects did not deter the Men in Blue from having a training session, that was close to two-and-a-half hours long. With as many as 10 players from the squad in attendance, it was actually an ‘optional’ training session as the Men in Blue sweated it out under the Bengaluru sun on Wednesday afternoon.
Barring Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav, every member of the squad was present on Wednesday and barring captain Rohit Sharma, all of them took part in batting and bowling drills.
Among them, fast bowler and local lad Prasidh Krishna-roped in as a replacement for the injured Hardik Pandya-had a long stint at the nets, bowling to the likes of Shubman Gill and interacting with bowling coach Paras Mhambarey, in between deliveries.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Another player under the spotlight on Wednesday was all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who began the session with a jog around the Chinnaswamy stadium before bowling to the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja at the nets.
Talking about Iyer, the Mumbai right-hander feasted on the spin offered by the net bowlers at the venue, carting them for sixes to different parts of the stadium. Jadeja, on the other hand, preferred to have a longer hit with the bat than with the ball.
Ishan Kishan, who has featured in just two matches so far, had another relatively long batting stint in the nets and even suffered a minor scare after being hit by Jasprit Bumrah in the nets. The injury, though, did not seem serious enough for him to discontinue his stint and he resumed batting soon after a short break.
ALSO READ| ‘Apne Player Apne Wasim Akram Par Yakhin Nahi Apko’: Mohammed Shami Slams Hasan Raza Over Cheating Allegations
A key highlight of the session was Shubman Gill who had as many as four stints at various nets, facing both the fast bowlers as well as taking throwdowns from coaches. Another local lad KL Rahul was the last man to enter the ground for training and faced both the fast bowlers and spinners for a short period of time.
Captain Rohit Sharma was present for training but did not bat or ball and instead opted to have a chat with the net bowlers, who had surrounded the skipper near one of the nets.
All in all, the Men in Blue seemed to be in a relaxed space with four more days to go for the match, with the top spot sealed before the final four stages of the tournament.
Comments
0 comment