Virat Kohli-led Team Wins Fielding Contest as India Undergo Intense Training Session in Chennai: WATCH

The Indian cricket team is leaving no stone unturned to prepare for the first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19 in Chennai. On Monday, Rohit Sharma & Co underwent an intense fielding drill under the guidance of fielding coach T Dilip. The players were divided into two teams and the one led by Virat Kohli aced the contest at Chepauk.

In a video uploaded by the BCCI, Dilip revealed that the squad trained in two segments where a bunch of players indulged in a fielding competition while the other group of cricketers took part in overall training.

“Today the whole idea was to get everyone together as a team where we have done two segments – the competition drill, taking into consideration the humidity in Chennai, where the volume was less but the intensity was there. So, we split into two groups and had some mini competitions in catching and the smaller number of errors in the team won. Today Virat’s team which has won today,” T Dilip said in the BCCI video.

“In the second drill we split two batches, the bowlers and all-rounders were split into two stations where outfield and infield catching was done with attacking ground fielding. Today the second group, which was the batters’ group, was standing in the slip cordon and short-leg.

“Overall, I would say that it was fantastic, especially keeping the hot conditions in mind. The best part of this group was that throughout all sessions the intensity was great,” Dilip concluded.

After a day off, the India squad members took part in their third training session since their arrival here last week. India will have two more practice sessions scheduled before the series opener against Bangladesh, who are riding on the confidence of their series sweep in Pakistan.

The likes of Rohit, Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan also sweated it out in the nets. The captain focussed on playing spinners, keeping Bangladesh’s slow bowling attack in mind. Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and pacer Mohammed Siraj also faced local bowlers and a significant amount of throwdowns.