Virat Kohli extended net session was the highlight of Team India’s first training session in Chennai prior to their ODI World Cup 2023 opener against Australia on Sunday. The star batter had taken a couple of days off before returning to the grind.
The main topic of discussion for India vs Australia (IND vs AUS) will be the bowling lineup and whether India would play local favorite Ravichandran Ashwin or additional seamer Mohammed Shami, depending on the playing surface.
The temptation will be to field Ashwin, who can mess with Australian minds, given that Hardik Pandya bowls an average of 6-7 overs every game and occasionally even his whole allotment.
Football teams frequently hold closed-door meetings because their managers don’t want fans or opponents to learn how well-prepared their squad is tactically.
It is uncommon among cricket teams, where tactical decisions are far more predetermined, yet the Indian squad chose to forbid reporters from attending the practice session on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli additional hour in the nets
Before facing some of the local net bowlers, Kohli spent a significant amount of time confronting traditional throw-ins.
Since the squad has already missed two warm-up games, which aid in simulation, Virat Kohli extended the two-hour training session by an additional 45 minutes.
Given that India had previously played a three-match ODI series against Australia a few weeks prior, missing out on their CWC warm-ups is not wholly a loss.
Despite missing the first two games of the series, Kohli was still able to produce a cool-headed innings in Rajkot’s final ODI, scoring 56 off 61 balls.
Along with Virat Kohli, all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, as well as left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, all toiled in the nets for India.
Ravindra Jadeja started with the ball and finished it off while batting, while Kuldeep and Pandya bowled first before the latter also had a brief batting session.
The remainder of the squad missed training, along with captain and batting opener Rohit Sharma, who was in Ahmedabad for the pre-competition news conference.
Before playing Australia on Sunday, India will continue to train in the following days.
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