Team India had to stop practice. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)
The countdown to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has begun. India has to play a five-match Test series on Australian soil from November 22, 2024 to January 7, 2025. The first match of the series will be played at the Optus Stadium in Perth. For this match, Team India held their first practice session at the Optus Stadium on Tuesday (November 19). During this time, all the players were seen with great enthusiasm and preparing vigorously. But during team India’s first practice session in Perth, something happened that caused the players to leave the field.
What happened in Team India’s first practice session?
According to Rev Sports, Devdutt Padikkal was the first player to arrive on the field during the first practice session at Optus Stadium in Perth. After this the coaching staff and some players were seen. Both Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli had a brief chat with the curator and then the warm-up began. During this period, the Indian team players also played football. After this, fielding coach T Dilip conducted fielding drills, which included one-handed picking and bowling. The players also practiced catching slips.
After field practice, Team India players were seen batting in the nets located outside the Optus Stadium. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravindra Jadeja batted one for one during this period. During this, players like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj took batting practice for some time.
Why did the Indian team suddenly stop practicing?
During this practice session of Team India at the Optus Stadium in Perth, rain also broke. Virat Kohli continued to bat even after the rain increased but then decided to leave the field along with the other players. During this, he was seen running with the other members.
It looks even more like this is the top 6 based on how they got into the nets before rain stopped practice. Virat Kohli was not willing to stop batting even as the rain became heavier before he had no option but to flee with the rest of the team. #AusvInd
—Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) November 19, 2024
Before the rain, Virat Kohli focused more on cuts, pulls and back-foot strikes on the green top. The backfoot cut is not one of Kohli’s strong points, but he was seen doing it to deal with Australia’s bouncers. Apart from this, some cover drives were also seen from his bat, which he is known for.
