The Asia Cup 2023 will kick-start on August 30 in Multan. India’s first match of the tournament is on September 2, against Pakistan in Pallekele before they take on Nepal on September 4.
While Pakistan and Afghanistan recently played out a 3-ODI series in Hambantota, serving as the best preparation for the Asia Cup for those two teams, the Indian cricketers are currently undergoing a 6-day training and fitness camp at the KSCA’s facility in Alur in Bangalore.
After doing fitness drills including clearing yo-yo test on Day 1, the Indian players were involved in match simulation practice matches on Days 2 and 3 of the camp.
Here are the 3 major takeaways from India’s match simulation practice in Bangalore:
Rohit Sharma prepares for Shaheen Afridi threat with help of Aniket Choudhary
India captain and opener Rohit Sharma is not leaving any stone unturned in order to be prepared for the threat of Pakistan’s spearhead fast bowler Shaheen Afridi.
To give the Indian batters, especially the top-order practice of facing Shaheen’s left-arm angle, the Indian management called up former RCB seamer Aniket Choudhary to the camp in Alur. Aniket Choudhary was recently also part of the Deodhar Trophy matches and has been doing well in the domestic circuit.
Rohit Sharma faced Aniket Choudhary in the practice matches to equip himself with the challenges that Shaheen Afridi could pose in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023.
KL Rahul makes progress with injury; does wicket-keeping
One major positive for India from this camp is that KL Rahul was seen doing wicket-keeping practice and drills. Earlier, at the time of the announcement of the Asia Cup squad, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said that Rahul is having a niggle and might miss the initial part of the Asia Cup.
Now, it’s a major boost to the team that KL Rahul did wicket-keeping drills in the past two days. But, nothing confirmed can be said at the moment regarding his fitness for the Pakistan game.
Virat Kohli looked in “aggressive” mode against spinners
In the practice matches, senior batsman Virat Kohli was looking to play the spinners “aggressively”. Kohli’s weakness and some struggles against spinners in the past few years have been talked about and the opposition too has tied him down with spinners turning the ball away from him.
Virat Kohli has become a great batsman – arguably the greatest of his era – by working and improving on his weaknesses. Even in the end part of his career, the 34-year-old is striving hard to improve his game as he eyes the Asia Cup title and the World Cup trophy.
After the practice match was completed on Saturday, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja reportedly spent extra time in the nets facing a variety of spinners to hone their skills against spinners, which would come to the fore in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the World Cup on Indian pitches.
