[Watch] "Virat's team won today" - India's intense fielding drills and catching contests ahead of 1st 2024 Test vs Bangladesh
Indian captain Rohit Sharma and senior players Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, among others, participated in an intense fielding drill in Chennai set up by the fielding coach T Dilip on Monday (September 16). In a video shared by the BCCI, the players were all seen polishing their catching and reflexes in the heat.
India will play the first of two home Tests against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium from Thursday (September 19).
In the video, Dilip said that due to the sweltering heat and humidity in the city, the focus of the drills was on getting players together and focusing more on intensity instead of volume. He said the first segment of the drill was a competitive drill between two groups of the squad, where the Kohli-led side came on top.
"We split them into two groups and had a little competition of catching and the team with [fewer] errors was the winner," Dilip said in the video. "It was Virat's team that won today... Later on, we split two batches."
"The bowlers and all-rounders were split into two stations where outfield and infield catching were taken care of along with attacking ground fielding. The second group, which was the batter's group, did the standard slip cordon catching and also some short-leg, silly-point with some reflexes [training]," Dilip added.
Watch the video here:
Almost everyone seemed involved in the session, with KL Rahul, interestingly, doing outfield catching practice while Dhruv Jurel also had a session with the gloves. However, practice sessions can't be looked into much for guessing team combinations as Rishabh Pant will likely be the first-choice wicketkeeper.
"The intensity was top-notch" - Fielding coach T Dilip
The only coaching staff member of the Rahul Dravid era retained under Gautam Gambhir, Dilip summed up the session as fantastic. He said:
"Overall, I'd say it was a fantastic session, considering the conditions, especially in the hot sun. We got used to it. But one great part of this drill was, irrespective of the conditions and weather, throughout all three stations, the intensity was top-notch."
After the first Test, the team will move on to a much cooler Kanpur for the second Test at the Green Park stadium, which will begin on September 27.