Virat Kohli’s 91 to 58 in practice game overshadowed an equally good effort from KL Rahul. © Getty
Virat Kohli’s first season as captain on this unique tour of Australia was uneventful. Apart from perhaps the period of play in which KL Rahul had him constantly move the field with the most fluid and flashy rounds. Maybe that moment when he asked Mayank Agarwal quite politely to keep walking after the starter stopped to debate LBW’s rather swift decision from “referee” R Sridhar.
As is the case with him in those warm-up games, especially one within the team where the opponents are basically his teammates, Kohli then sat in the locker room hoping to find the kind of intensity that would get him going with him. bat. To some extent, it helped that his team slid into a slightly precarious position in pursuit of its reasonable goal at 40 overs. It meant that Kohli now faced the challenge of seeing his team at home. I was in his zone. And according to those who witnessed the strike up close, India’s best hitter not only rose to the occasion, but managed to produce a masterclass. To the point that his 91 of 58 balls ended up eclipsing Rahul’s 66 balls 83, which in itself was a showcase of the blows. It was a coup that is being hailed by team members as a very promising sign of what their captain might have in store for the Australians in the ODI in a few days.
The first match between Indian teams on Sunday (November 22) was also in some ways the last leg, if not a culmination, of what has been a constant and vigorous training regimen that the visitors have followed since landing here on 12th of November. With four days left until their quarantine period ends, and the ODI series begins, here is a rough diary of what Kohli & Co have been up to since they boarded the chartered flight in Dubai 10 days ago.
Day 1: November 14
After two days of getting oriented, the first day of training for the Indians still consisted of breaking the shackles and shaking off the jetlag. It was also about getting used to bubble life in Australia. While there were restrictions for them to even leave their respective rooms at the hotel, they were allowed to be themselves upon arrival at the training site, which is a half-hour drive from the hotel. The social distancing rules meant the 32-member strong squad along with the support staff had to ride 3 separate buses. Once there, they would have no contact with anyone else, including the ground crew who would put everything in its place and literally leave the oval to the Indians. Bottles of water were provided and, contrary to more normal circumstances, no food was provided for health and safety reasons.
The day’s session was primarily based on running and exercising.
Day 2: November 15
With no direct access to either the players or their fellow support staff, the coaches began the day with separate conference calls for hitters and bowlers to establish a rough schedule of the nets. It was discussed further during the trip to the stadium.
The red and white ball players were divided into groups. And while one group was online, the other was forced to do some fitness and gym work. There were also some field and capture sessions for members of this setup. However, the laws of the bubble did not allow them to go through any kind of routines behind closed doors, which meant that all gym work and massage sessions were done in the field.
Day 3: November 16
The format of the training program was the same as the previous day with the two groups divided and then exchanging periods in the networks. There was some positive news for the Indian team with the arrival of takedown specialist Raghu, who had tested positive for Covid-19 a few weeks earlier but had since recovered. The integral member of the installation went directly to a hard quarantine of 7 days upon landing. His absence has meant more workload for players like R Sridhar and Vikram Rathour alongside Nuwan Seneviratne. Some of the players also chimed in with pitches for their teammates.
Day 4: November 17
After two days in the nets, it was time for the two camps to go on to practice the central gate with some open nets, one at each end. Each group was given 2.5 hours to hit in the middle with reserve fast bowlers Ishan Porel and Kartik Tyagi, taking on the heaviest workload. Tyagi also impressed, testing Prithvi Shaw with the short ball and also getting the ball to beat Cheteshwar Pujara’s bat.
The focus for the fast bowlers in the ODI and T20I squads was more on conditioning and maintaining workloads, with each throwing 9-10 overs on the day, just as they did on the nets. The session was interrupted with a lunch break.
Day 5: November 18
In an attempt to mix things up and also provide an additional competitive edge to their players, the team management decided to put them through some match simulation routines. They were an attempt to get Kohli & Co to get at least 60 percent match intensity in preparation for the upcoming high-profile series in all formats.
The red ball players were given various objectives that they were asked to fulfill. They included getting the “Test” starters to 10 overs with the score at 20-0 or extending that to 40-0 in 15 overs. Players like Pujara and Rahane were given scenarios where they are together at 20-3 in 10 overs and have to stabilize the boat and see the team with a certain level of security at 50-3 in 25 overs.
Meanwhile, new ball shooters were given easier tasks of firing starters with 6-7 overs or simply trying to build pressure on their respective wingers. Of course, more specific goal-oriented goals were set for white ball hitters and bowlers. These sessions were also divided into halves of 2.5 hours each.
Day 6: November 19
He was back on the networks on Thursday. The good news for the visitors was Wriddhiman Saha’s return to action. Test specialist Wicket-keeper spent a good deal of time dealing with takedowns. Another key player, who is still returning from a serious injury, Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, started working on his bowling game. Although it remains to be seen whether Pandya can return to shooting at high speeds above 140km / h as he did before collapsing last year, he is expected to be more injury-free with the alterations he is working on. Still very unlikely to bowling during ODI and T20I, maybe 2 overs max if really necessary, and team management is confident that the X factor he brings with the bat is good enough to warrant the selection for shorter formats.
Day 7: November 20
After five straight days of cricket training, Friday was all about strength and conditioning and also a good chance to be out of their rooms for the quarantined Indians. It was also a day of mourning for young Mohammad Siraj, whose father passed away in India. While it emerged that the manager and the doctor had requested special permission to be able to spend some time with the dueling fast bowler in his room, it was not necessary. Siraj received multiple calls and a lot of support from his teammates and the coaching staff.
Day 8: November 21
Saturday was all about sprints. All the team’s players went through a 2 km time trial to find out their physical condition. It included Tyagi and Porel, who along with Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan are expected to be left behind for the Test series as network pitchers. This is being done to ensure that Indian batsmen face a high level of bowling while preparing for Trials and also for Intermediate matches. The other white ball players will fly back to India once the T20Is conclude.
Day 9: November 22
It turned out to be the longest day in India since arriving in Australia. The match started around 1.30pm and Rahul’s fireworks lit up the competition after Siraj took down starters Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal. Rahul got some support from Pandya, who hit a few limits later in the day, but it was his hit and an inside-out six from Shami that stood out the most from his team’s innings. Then the lights came on and Kohli entered.
Head coach Ravi Shastri gave an interview to ABC about the series and talked about how they were doing well in bringing Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma in time for the first test in Adelaide. It is believed that a strict quarantine for them upon arrival might well rule Ishant out of the Pink Ball Trial, as he would not have time to prepare for it. Rohit could still become a hitter.
Day 10: November 23
After 9 days of intense planning and training, Monday was the first “optional” session for the players. And while R Ashwin posted a clip of him bowling on Instagram, it’s mostly the hitters who were expected to show up to face some takedowns on the net.
India still has three more days before it receives any level of freedom regarding its movement. How much it will be remains to be seen. The Australian IPL players have also been training at the same location but at different times and will rejoin as a full team on the morning of the first ODI at SCG. That’s where the Indians will also be to kick off the long-awaited clash of the cricket titans under the lights on Friday (November 27).
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