Kohli, Bumrah slog at nets

Batting superstar Virat Kohli spent about 45 minutes in the nets and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bowled full tilt as the Indian cricket team on Friday began its preparations for a two-Test series against Bangladesh.

With the first Test against Bangladesh scheduled here from September 19, the entire squad, including skipper Rohit Sharma and Kohli, assembled at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for a closed door training session.

This would be the first home assignment for new head coach Gautam Gambhir. New bowling coach, South African great Morne Morkel, and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar were also in attendance.

The BCCI posted images of the first day of practice and wrote, “The countdown starts as Team India begin their preps for an exciting home season.” The images showed the entire squad listening attentively to Gambhir, his support staff and skipper Rohit.

“Virat was there for 45 minutes and Bumrah also bowled full throttle,” a local source said. Virat has flown in directly from London for the opening Test.

Wearing a yellow jersey, Rohit was seen emerging from the airport escorted by security personnel, while Kohli came from London in an early-morning flight.

The likes of Bumrah, KL Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had reached the city on Thursday. Batter Sarfaraz Khan will join the squad after the Duleep Trophy game in Anantapur, where he is playing for India B right now. The players are returning to the field after a much-needed break of more than a month and would look to put behind the disappointment of losing the ODI series against Sri Lanka in August, which was Gambhir’s first assignment as head coach after taking over Rahul Dravid.

It would be interesting to see how Rohit’s side approaches the game against a Bangladesh side, which is on a high following its 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan recently.

Vital World Test Championship (WTC) points are at stake in the two-match series as India get ready for a a gruelling 10-match Test season, which also includes a three-Test series at home against New Zealand and the five-match Border-Gavaskar series later this year in Australia.

India are currently heading the table with 68.52 percentage points, while Australia are a close second with 62.50 percentage points.

Bangladesh have jumped to fourth spot with 45.83 percentage points following their 10-wicket win over Pakistan in the opening Test and their amazing fightback in the second Test where wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das scored a century to singlehandedly guide the side to a series triumph.

The second Test of the India-Bangladesh series will be played in Kanpur from September 27.