Ashwin vs Dravid XI – India in South Africa: After completing a day long quarantine in South Africa, the Indian cricket team warmed up with a footvolley match ahead of their first training session in Johannesburg. Players including Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur and Priyank Panchal were divided in two teams – Ashwin vs Dravid XI. Follow India tour of South Africa Live on InsideSport.IN.
Ashwin vs Dravid XI: Indian team starts South Africa tour with Footvolley match, check who won Ashwin XI or Dravid XI? Watch Video
In the video posted by the BCCI on Saturday, the players can be seen taking the game with utmost seriousness. Ravichandran Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara indulge in a ‘heated exchange’, while Virat Kohli is seen getting awestruck by ‘footvolley skills’ of his coach Rahul Dravid.
How did #TeamIndia recharge their batteries ahead of their first training session in Jo’Burg? 🤔
On your marks, get set & Footvolley! ☺️😎👏👌#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/dIyn8y1wtz
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 18, 2021
Soham Desai, strength and conditioning coach of the Indian cricket team, said that there are “battled within the team” in this footvolley game which Indian team has made its own. He added that the game helps the players to stay positive while away from family on long tours.
“We have had 3 days of hard quarantine in Mumbai and we have had 10 hours of long flight and we again had a hard quarantine yesterday here. So started our hard session straightaway would have been high risk thing for the guys. We just went for a run, we got together, stretched out, sweated out and this game is going to bridge the inactivity and the skills from tomorrow. We can do just so much to adjust to the elevation here which is 1400 metre and we are coming sea level. The guys will take 2-3 days to adapt,” Soham Desai said.
“This game can now be called ‘Indian team game’. There were options of many game but they chose footvolley. They enjoy the game and they have their own battles within the team going on,” he added.
Which team won the intense match isn’t clear through the video but the team bonded well for sure. Players can be heard congratulating and hugging each other in the end.
The Indian team landed in the Rainbow nation on Thursday and spent a mandatory one day hotel quarantine. The players took to social media handles to share numerous pictures from their plush team hotel in Pretoria.
From Mumbai to Jo’Burg! 👍 👍
Capturing #TeamIndia‘s journey to South Africa 🇮🇳 ✈️ 🇿🇦 – By @28anand
Watch the full video 🎥 🔽 #SAvINDhttps://t.co/dJ4eTuyCz5 pic.twitter.com/F0qCR0DvoF
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 17, 2021
📍Touchdown South Africa 🇿🇦#TeamIndia #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/i8Xu6frp9C
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 16, 2021
Ashwin vs Dravid XI – India in South Africa: The first Teat match of the 3-Test series will be played from December 26 in Centurion.
Ashwin vs Dravid XI: Indian team starts South Africa tour with Footvolley match, check who won Ashwin XI or Dravid XI? Watch Video
