With just a couple of days left for the much-awaited India-Bangladesh two Tests series to begin, India's star batter Virat Kohli and star bowler Jasprit Bumrah – got down to business in Chennai on Monday.
Both Kohli and Bumrah are returning to action after their brilliant performances in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which India lifted on 29 June at Barbados after defeating Aiden Markram-led South Africa.
After returning on the field to do what they do best, both players sharpened their swords. What better way to face off against each other?
During the practice session on Monday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Kohli tested Bumrah, and the latter experimented with his variety against the Indian batting stalwart, reported The Sportstar.
Like many of the batting greats, Kohli refrained from attacking Bumrah. Kohli missed the flick on one delivery, which rapped him on the pads. Following this, Bumrah celebrated and signalled for DRS, but Kohli gestured that the ball was missing leg, reported Hindustan Times.
Meanwhile, India head coach Gautam Gambhir has deployed six-feet talent from Punjab – Gurnoor Brar – as a net bowler to help prepare India for Bangladesh pacer Nahid Rana. The Bangladeshi pacer recently rattled Pakistan with 4/44 in the second Test at Rawalpindi.
When Brar bowled, even Kohli initially faced some issues but later began to play authoritative and intent-filled shots against him.
However, for spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, Kohli didn't show any mercy and dispatched them with some lusty blows.
Along with Kohli, India's left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also spend some time practicing on the nets.
After beating Pakistan in the two-Test series at Rawalpindi, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto appears confident against Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team for the two-Test series.
"It will be a challenging series but we have the extra confidence from the Pakistan series," ESPNCricinfo quoted Shanto as saying in the pre-departure press conference in Dhaka.
"I guess the whole country has that confidence now. Every series is an opportunity. We want to win both Tests, but we have to stick to our process. If we do our job, we can get a good result," he said.
"They are well ahead of us in the rankings. But we did play well recently. We want to play well for five days, that's our goal. We want to get the result in the last session of the Test match. At that time, the match can go in any direction. It is an opportunity [to get our first win in India]. We will play with a win in mind. But we don't want to think too far ahead. We want to do well for five days, and play to our strength. That's most important," Shanto added.
With agency inputs.
