Virat Kohli and company were seen enjoying a bonding day at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), posted a video on its official website, further tweeting about the team’s off-day. The team India resumed training and practice for the first Test match, Ravi Shastri delivering the war cry ahead of the net session on Tuesday.
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BCCI Tweets, Team India enjoying at Chepauk:
Team bonding ??
Regroup after quarantine ✅
A game of footvolley ?#TeamIndia enjoys a fun outing at Chepauk ahead of the first Test against England. ?? – by @RajalArora #INDvENGWatch the full video ?? https://t.co/fp19jq1ZTI pic.twitter.com/wWLAhZcdZk
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 2, 2021
# TeamIndia enjoys a fun outing at Chepauk ahead of the first Test against England. ?? – by @RajalArora #INDvENG
Further, a Twitter user also posted a picture of Virat Kohli posing to play the helicopter shot, a familiar move at the Chepauk during the Indian Premier League.
“Virat Kohli trying shadow Helicopter shot during the outdoor practice session,” he Tweeted.
The video – where the team is seen playing footvolley amongst the other warm-up activities. Featured the side’s strength and conditioning coach Nick Webb and Soham Desai talk about the significance of the bonding session.
Virat Kohli trying shadow Helicopter shot during the outdoor practice session. pic.twitter.com/4XaZBUr87W
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 2, 2021
Team India performed various activities to be ready for the upcoming Test Series:
The players started by running laps and then performing other activities to get their bodies ready for a stringent week ahead. The team was then divided into two teams led by Webb and Desai – who overlooked the session. The squad was seen having fun enjoying each other’s company after they spent six days in quarantine and ran through the series of COVID-19 tests.
Web and Desai stressed the importance of bonding aka fun session. Saying that some of the players only had three/four days home post the Australia tour, hence they deserved some off time. They further added that the quarantine had kept them indoors but their first outdoor session – together – was ought to be fun.
Along with Ravi Shastri, skipper Virat Kohli – who has joined the team for the first time since losing at Adelaide. Also spoke to the team on Tuesday. While the team doesn’t have many days to practice. Some might only count in hours ahead of a series that will decide their presence at Lord’s in June. The team did look confident. A total of three net sessions per team has been planned ahead of the 1st Test, starting Friday.
A fan expressed his concern over potential injuries:
A fan did Tweet, expressing his concern about injuries. He went on to say playing football might get the players on the bench.
“I hope they are not playing football. That has been one of the biggest reasons for the injury to our players.”
“MS Dhoni just would not do without it. I hope Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri are not adamant about it. Best Wishes to our Team! I hope we win the series against England,” he said.
Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, and Virat Kohli have joined the team after Ajinkya Rahane led a young side to a 2-1 victory in Australia.