[Watch] Team India go all out in their final practice session ahead of SCG Test
Team India were seen slogging it out in the nets on Wednesday during their final training session ahead of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney.
In an extensive practice session, the Indians were seen working on all aspects of the game, from batting to bowling and throwing.
Even players like T. Natarajan and Kuldeep Yadav, who won’t be part of the Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), were active participants as India looked to make the best of their resources.
BCCI shared the video of Team India’s last training session before the SCG Test on its official Twitter account. Watch video below:
Earlier in the day, Team India had announced their playing XI for the SCG Test. There were a couple of changes to the team that featured in the tremendous Boxing Day triumph.
While Rohit Sharma came in as opener in place of the struggling Mayank Agarwal, Navdeep Saini replaced the injured Umesh Yadav.
There were reports that T. Natarajan or Shardul Thakur could be drafted into the final XI in place of Yadav. However, the fiery Saini eventually got the nod and will make his Test debut.
Under pressure after failures in the first two Tests, Hanuma Vihari has been given another opportunity to prove his worth in the middle-order.
SCG Test: Chance for Team India to shut out the noise
Following their exploits in Melbourne, India should have gone into the SCG Test with the plaudits flowing in. Ajinkya Rahane and co. did draw a lot for praise for their fighting comeback till a couple days after the sensational triumph.
However, the narrative has shifted towards a rather unpleasant path for Team India over the last week. It all began with a video of five members of the Indian team dining at an indoor venue in Melbourne.
This was widely reported as a potential breach of the bio-bubble. Cricket Australia (CA) even came out with an official statement stating that the incident was under investigation by both the Aussie cricket board and the BCCI.
A day later, Australian media went berserk with pictures of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya’s visit to a baby store in Sydney from early December flashing all over.
The Indian cricket superstars are seen without masks in the photographs, leading to allegations that this was another potential bio-bubble breach.
The store owner though recently clarified that things weren’t as bad as they are now when Kohli and Pandya visited the store, and that not wearing a mask was commonplace back then.
Team India would be keen to start making news for cricketing reasons once the SCG Test gets underway, and answer all the critics in style.