IND vs NED LIVE: ICC T20 World Cup 2022: India take on Netherlands in their 2nd Super 12 match after a thrilling win against arch-rivals Pakistan. But after arriving in Sydney, Team India haven’t had a full-fledged practice session yet, raising the question, if Rohit Sharma & Co are taking Netherlands lightly. After a day off, India had a light training session on Tuesday, giving pace bowlers day off. While India were to have a full-fledged practice session on Wednesday, they cancelled the practice entirely. India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said India will treat all practice sessions as optional ones. Follow India vs Netherlands LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
“I think we’re pretty thought out in terms of the planning and how we want to go about it. I think from here on, every session that we have left is an optional one, so in terms of the maintenance, in terms of the physiotherapy, taking care of them, it’s important to have them in the best shape going into every game,” Paras Mhambrey said at the pre-match press conference.
IND vs NED LIVE: India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey says all practice sessions ‘optional’, is Rohit Sharma & Co taking Netherlands lightly? Check Details
Why did India cancel Wednesday’s practice? – Team India were unhappy with their practice venue. While India are staying in Sydney, the team was supposed to practice at Blacktown International Sportspark which is about 42kms away.
Rohit Sharma & Co are already furious over cold treatment with inadequate food and cold sandwiches. Hence, the team decided to call the practice off on Wednesday.
However, Netherlands could be a tricky opponent considering their progression in the last few months.
Furthermore, India had just one full practice session before the Pakistan match even though India had 3 full days to prepare. The entire Pakistan team attended the “optional practice” while only 4-5 Indian players turned up.
IND vs NED LIVE: India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey says all practice sessions ‘optional’, is Rohit Sharma & Co taking Netherlands lightly? Check Details
Hello Sydney 👋
We are here for our 2⃣nd game of the #T20WorldCup! 👏 👏#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/96toEZzvqe
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 25, 2022
While the message from head coach and captain is simple, “don’t overtrain”, it could be a problem against stronger sides like South Africa. The likes of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Suryalumar Yadav failed to live up to the expectations against Pakistan. Axar Patel also had a bad day.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was also not too happy with India’s culture of treating all practice sessions as “optional”.
“I don’t know what it tells you but it’s something that I don’t agree with. I don’t agree with it for the simple reason that, at the start of the tournament, when you had your match (warm-up match) washed out, when you have come to Melbourne and had a day off, and then the next day, you opt not to practice?” Sunil Gavaskar said.
“At the end of the day, those who didn’t come out for practice can turn out to be match-winners. But you want a rhythm going as a team. You want to see a sense of purpose,” he added.
India are currently at the second spot in the Super 12 Group 2 points table with Bangladesh ahead of them due to their superior Net Run Rate. With South Africa and Sri Lanka being the tougher opponents, India need to prepare accordingly, skipping practice sessions may create an issue.
IND vs NED LIVE: India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey says all practice sessions ‘optional’, is Rohit Sharma & Co taking Netherlands lightly? Check Details
India T20 WC Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, Harshal Patel, Rishabh Pant
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