India’s veteran batter Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli sweated it out in the companionable silence of the nets during the team’s practice on Sunday. India will aim for their first Test series win in South Africa when they take on the Proteas in a two-match series starting on December 26. There is a 31-year-old jinx in Indian cricket who has missed out on a Test series victory in the ‘Rainbow Nation’ and in the twilight zone of their careers, both Rohit and Kohli would like to achieve what no other Indian team could.
While Kohli, who returned from London after a short break with family, joined the practice after half an hour, Rohit looked a little more relaxed after shutting down for three weeks.
The two batted in different nets and center practice strips and also faced downs for more than an hour.
There was almost no conversation between them, even when they took short breaks in between. Unlike the World Cup nets, where there was a mixture of both focus and laughter, the only sound that made you sit up and take notice was the sound of the red leather colliding with the arrow.
See it here:
Virat Kohli in the practice session.
– The king is preparing for the 26th.pic.twitter.com/WS19Vm0KU7
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) 24 December 2023
Dekho vo aa gaya #ViratKohli #primarily pic.twitter.com/WHhai0SAlX
— Ajay (@corruptajxy) 24 December 2023
Virat Kohli and Prasidh during the practice session in South Africa!!#viratkohli #Prasidh #Rohit #ViratKohli #viral #kohil #Sample #INvAUS #INDvsSA #Rcb #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/UiX9Ojr0Na
— Mollah Shamim (@MollahShamim165) 24 December 2023
The debaters could face some challenging times with the Supersport Park pitch expected to help the fast bowlers as the threat of rain looms over the opening Test between India and South Africa, curator Brain Bloy said on Saturday.
The Centurion curator said there is little chance of play on the opening day and better part of the second day and due to heavy rain there will be a drop in temperature and spinners are unlikely to get much help.
“The temperature will be super low, like 20 degrees. The temperature is now 34 and it will drop to 20. I don’t know what the conditions will be like if we get games on Day 1,” Bloy told PTI after his set time. inspection of the work.
“Hopefully we’ll get some play and it’ll be cool on Day 3 and I don’t know how much travel is available.”
Bloy said if the pitch remains under cover, it will be difficult to bat first.
(With PTI inputs)
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