After completing two practice matches in Perth, the Indian team reached Brisbane a couple of days ago. India will meet Australia on Monday and New Zealand on Wednesday at The Gabba for their two warm-up matches before their Super 12 opener on October 23 against Pakistan, at the MCG.
The Indian players, including skipper Rohit Sharma, have been toiling hard in the nets as they look to win their second T20 world cup title.
Sharma, who is leading India for the first time in an ICC tournament, engaged with young fans during his net sessions in Perth earlier this week, where India had played a couple of practice matches against Western Australia XI.
Among all, one 11-year-old kid, Drushil Chauhan, was invited by Rohit Sharma to bowl a few balls to the Indian batter in the nets. Drushil impressed Sharma with his bowling action.
The BCCI released a vide of Rohit’s interaction with the 11-year-old. In the video, team analyst Hari Prasad Mohan was heard narrating how Rohit identified this talented bowler among 100 kids.
“We arrived at the WACA for our afternoon practice session and kids were wrapping up their morning event. As soon as we entered the dressing room, we were able to see 100 odd kids playing and enjoying cricket,” the analyst Hari Prasad Mohan said.
“And there was one kid, who caught everyone’s eyes, and Rohit was the first one to identify the kid. And after watching 2-3 balls the kid bowled, everyone was amazed by his smooth run-up and how naturally talented he was. He was constantly beating the bat, and Rohit immediately went out of the dressing room and called the kid and asked him to bowl a few more balls.”
After the session, Rohit comically asked Drushil, “You stay in Perth; how are you going to play for India?”
The kid replied sweetly, “I am going to go to India, when I am good enough.”
You can access the video from here:
𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦!
When a 11-year-old impressed @ImRo45 with his smooth action! 👌 👌
A fascinating story of Drushil Chauhan who caught the eye of #TeamIndia Captain & got invited to the nets and the Indian dressing room. 👏 👏 #T20WorldCup
Watch 🔽https://t.co/CbDLMiOaQO
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 16, 2022
Meanwhile, the latest development in India’s squad is that Mohammed Shami has been named as the replacement of Jasprit Bumrah, who’d been ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2022 because of a back injury.