MELBOURNE: The Indian cricket team on Thursday he tried out a never-before-seen training drill that vaguely resembled a wrestling match, with a pair of two players, each seemingly struggling to outdo each other.
All terrain Ravindra Jadeja was the first to hit the nets for the training session and was put through a fitness test as he ran through the gates with a bat in hand, two days before the Boxing Day Test begins at the holy Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Jadeja, who has bagged 213 wickets and scored 1,869 runs in 49 rounds, had missed the last two T20I and the first round against the hosts due to a concussion and hamstring injury sustained during the first T20I.
One of the tour’s finds, pacemaker T Natarajan threw well into the nets and often managed to beat the outer edge of alternate captain Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Ready to play in the second test against a fit Australian team, KL Rahul had a long hit in the nets, as did Rishabh Pant.
While the players busied themselves in the nets after the warm-up, the Indian think tank – head coach Ravi shastribowling coach Bharat arun and hitting coach Vikram rathour – were seen exchanging notes from the practice session.
They also had a long talk with Rahane, who will lead the team in the remaining three Trials in the absence of virat Kohli, who has flown back to India for the birth of her son.
Shastri was seen discussing something with Rahul after the batter’s net session and Prithvi Shaw, who is going through a lean period, was also seen batting at the net against players like Chinese bowler Kuldeep Yadav.
Watched by head coach Justin Langer, players like star hitters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuchagne also underwent an intense netting session at MCG, with former Sri Lankan player Suraj Randiv bowling at them from the other end.
India is behind the 4-game rubber 0-1 after suffering an eight-wicket loss to the hosts in the first day / night test in Adelaide, where the visitors collapsed to their record-low score of 36 in their second inning.
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