Team India have concluded their 6-day training, fitness, and preparatory camp in Alur in Bangalore and are set to fly off for Sri Lanka where they will participate in the Asia Cup 2023 tournament.
The Asia Cup will kick-start on August 30 in Multan, with Pakistan hosting Nepal. India will begin their campaign in Kandy, taking on Pakistan on September 2.
The BCCI posted a video, sharing glimpses of the Indian players from their preparatory camp in Bangalore. It was great to see all the players fit and firing; even KL Rahul, who is ruled out of the Pakistan and Nepal matches due to a “minor niggle” was seen doing wicket-keeping drills, and Shreyas Iyer was in full flow with the bat.
Once again, as it is in any video, Virat Kohli was in the thick of things and fans caught a few glimpses of the superstar batsman in the nets.
Virat Kohli smashed a monstrous sixer to a pace-on short length delivery from fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. Virat Kohli could also be seen slogging a full length ball, though the bowler this time could not be seen.
This mode of Virat Kohli ahead of the Asia Cup, and, more importantly, ahead of the World Cup 2023, is a great news for the Indian fans.
Watch: Virat Kohli pulls a stunning six to Siraj in nets
Prep mode 🔛
Energy levels high 💪
Getting into the groove in Alur 👌#TeamIndia | #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/rHBZzbf4WT
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 29, 2023
Apart from Virat Kohli, other India batters too – Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja – flexed their muscles by playing some aggressive strokes in the nets.
Meanwhile, India perhaps might need to rejig their batting order once again for the first two matches as KL Rahul, the designated keeper and number 5 batsman, won’t be available for those two games.
This means that Ishan Kishan, who is in the 17-man squad, will come into the playing XI against Pakistan.
The conundrum for captain Rohit and head coach Dravid here is that Kishan’s success has come as an opener. So to include the left-hander in the XI, India might have to push the other three batters one spot down. Or they might take the risk of batting Kishan at number 5, which would be out of his favored position.
