IND vs WI Live: India practice at Eden Gardens for T20s – Rohit Sharma & Co began their practice for the three-match T20 series beginning on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens. But during the usual practice session under lights, Rohit Sharma held an important discussion with head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour on team combination. Rohit will need to take a big decision on who will open with him in 1st T20. Follow IND vs WI T20 Series Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
During India’s practice on Monday, both Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad put in hard yards with the hopes that one will get the nod. While Ishan Kishan has got his chances, Ruturaj has only warmed the bench since making his T20 debut in Sri Lanka. Batting coach Vikaram Rathour said a call will be taken close to the match.
IND vs WI Live: Rohit Sharma holds IMPORTANT discussion with Dravid, Rathour in practice at Eden Gardens – Check pics
“We haven’t really decided that yet, we still have a couple of days to go. We had a travel day and rest day, so today we have our first practice day, once we get to look at the wicket and the kind of surface we are playing. We’ll then see, we have options available, KL is out I understand, we have Ishan and Ruturaj in the mix, so we will see,” Vikram Rathour said.
The Venkatesh Iyer mystery: The other big mystery is regarding Venkatesh Iyer. Rohit Sharma spoke about giving Venkatesh Iyer longer rope with T20 World Cup in mind. However, he is yet to fully fit into the team. Furthermore, Rohit Sharma hasn’t used him with the ball against New Zealand.
IND vs WI Live: Rohit Sharma holds IMPORTANT discussion with Dravid, Rathour in practice at Eden Gardens – Check pics
On Monday, he had a full session with the ball and depending on the pitch, he will have to compete for a place with Deepak Hooda after Washington Sundar was also ruled out. If the Eden Gardens pitch offers more for seamers, he will get the nod instead of Deepak Hooda while Kuldeep Yadav will also be competing for a place.
Virat Kohli spends 45 minutes at nets – Battling a prolonged lean patch, former India captain Virat Kohli batted at the nets and also took throw-downs during India’s first practice session ahead of the T20 series against the West Indies.
𝐓𝟐𝟎𝐈 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞 🔛#TeamIndia hit the ground running at the Eden Gardens! 👌 👌#INDvWI @Paytm pic.twitter.com/xS8ZyzsnsA
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 14, 2022
IND vs WI Live: Rohit Sharma holds IMPORTANT discussion with Dravid, Rathour in practice at Eden Gardens – Check pics
Kohli was first to enter the nets to take throwdowns from the Indian support staff as he batted from both the ends before going for the drill. Later he had a lengthy net session, spanning more than 45 minutes.
In the white-ball format, the Indian ace last scored a century against the West Indies in August 2019, in Port of Spain ODI and since then, he has had 10 50-plus scores but failed to convert them into a ton. Across formats, he’s yet to score an International century in more than two years and his last century came against Bangladesh in India’s first pink ball Day/Night Test at Eden Gardens here in November 2019.
IND vs WI Live: Rohit Sharma holds IMPORTANT discussion with Dravid, Rathour in practice at Eden Gardens – Check pics