The Indian cricket team has had a longish stay in England by now, having already been there for close to a month. Virat Kohli and his team started the tour by winning the T20 series, but two back to back losses meant they conceded the ODI series to the hosts.
But the big challenge starts on Wednesday and the Indians have hit the ground running, to prepare for the first Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The BCCI released photographs and a video of the Indian team practicing hard at Edgbaston.
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The players first went through their customary fitness drills, followed by a long fielding session, where they focussed on taking catches. This was followed by a net session at the Colts nets, situated right behind the main stadium.
All the Indian pacers - Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami - went full tilt in practice as seen in the video.
The batsmen too spent considerable time in the nets fine tuning their techniques before taking on James Anderson and company. Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and the likes put in the hard yards to ensure they are ready to face the music from England’s bowling unit.
{{/usCountry}}The batsmen too spent considerable time in the nets fine tuning their techniques before taking on James Anderson and company. Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and the likes put in the hard yards to ensure they are ready to face the music from England’s bowling unit.
{{/usCountry}}India do not have a good record at Edgbaston in Test cricket, but if the preparations are anything to go by, Virat Kohli and his men are ready to rewrite Indian cricket’s history at this ground.
Also, Birmingham has a huge Asian population, so support for the Indian team might not be short supply at this venue. India recently played at this venue during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, and registered big wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh in front of packed houses.