Debasis Sen, Centurion: One very positive thing about the Kohli led India team is to keep the atmosphere in the dressing room charged up when the chips are down. With the team being knocked off by the hosts in less than four days in the first test at Newlands, the onus will be on the men in blue to bounce back in the series. It may sound difficult but it is definitely achievable.
The Indian players were involved in a rather strange training session today at the start of the practice session. Kohli and the entire team were involved in a fun game called passing the pass. Each of the cricketers were seen chasing one each other and exchanging bibs during their session.
The idea for such an activity was to make the practice session more enjoyable and keep the pressure off. It was the idea of Team India’s strength and condition coach Shankar Basu.
The fun activity was followed by a game of soccer. The players next went through some rigorous fielding drills. At the net session that followed, the bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md. Shami and Jasprit Bumrah batted first followed by KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. It is an indication that the Karnataka opener might start the innings for India with Vijay. The other opener Shikhar Dhawan was seen practising playing short ball under fielding coach R Sridhar.
Another notable thing from the practice session was out of favour Ajinkya Rahane being given an extended session at the nets. The Indian vice captain batted with Rohit Sharma. Captain Virat Kohli was at ease middling the ball at the nets. Kohli will look to make a statement in the Centurion test after failing to score a big knock in both the innings at Cape Town.
As far as the bowling attack is concern, there is unlikely going to be any major changes with Shami and Bhuvneshwar sharing the new ball along with Bumrah and Hardik.
The visitors are currently 0-1 down in the three match test series, having been comprehensively outplayed by the Proteas at Newlands.