[Watch] Team India hits the training ground in Johannesburg
Team India have kickstarted their preparations for the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa which will begin in Centurion on Boxing Day.
Virat Kohli & co had to undergo a hard quarantine on their arrival in Johannesburg before resuming training. Today, the BCCI shared a video on their social media handles where they were seen playing footvolley.
"How did #TeamIndia recharge their batteries ahead of their first training session in Jo'Burg? On your marks, get set & Footvolley!" BCCI captioned the video.
How did #TeamIndia recharge their batteries ahead of their first training session in Jo'Burg? 🤔
On your marks, get set & Footvolley! ☺️😎👏👌
#SAvIND https://t.co/dIyn8y1wtz
The cricketers were seen enjoying themselves during the game, with head coach Rahul Dravid also taking part in the fun activity. India's Test captain Kohli, who fired shots in the pre-match press conference after being removed as ODI captain, also looked in jovial mood during the session.
"This game now can be called the Indian team game. We give them so many options but they end up choosing footvolley and they enjoy it, they love it and they have their own battles going within the team now," Soham Desai, India's strength and conditioning coach said.
"The guys will take 2-3 days to adapt to that" - Soham Desai on India's preparations
From Mumbai to Jo'Burg! 👍 👍
Capturing #TeamIndia's journey to South Africa 🇮🇳 ✈️ 🇿🇦 - By @28anand
Watch the full video 🎥 🔽 #SAvIND
bit.ly/3q3ThqP https://t.co/F0qCR0DvoF
Soham Desai stated that this kind of session is important for cricketers to bridge the gap before an important series. Desai, who took over from Nick Webb after this year's T20 World Cup, said:
"We have had three days of hard quarantine in Mumbai and we have had 10 hours of long flight and yesterday was once again a hard quarantine day here. So starting our skill session straightaway would have been a high risk thing for the guys."
He went on to add:
"Today evening we just went for a run, we got together, stretched out, sweated out and this game would help them bridge the gap between inactivity and the skills training from tomorrow. Also the schedule is such that we have to get going right away and we can do so much to manage with the elevation which is 1400 metres. So the guys will take 2-3 days to adapt to that."
India’s Full Schedule Of South Africa Series
1st Test: December 26 to 30 – Centurion – 1:30 PM.
2nd Test: January 3 to 7 – Johannesburg – 1:30 PM.
3rd Test: January 11 to 15 – Cape Town – 2:00 PM.
1st ODI: January 19, Wednesday – Paarl – 2:00 PM.
2nd ODI: January 21, Friday – Paarl – 2:00 PM.
3rd ODI: January 23, Sunday – Cape Town – 2:00 PM.
(Note: All times are in IST.)