NEW DELHI: Ahead of the first Test against England, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has started sweating it out in the nets.
India’s five-Test match series against England will kickstart from January 25 onwards in Hyderabad and will conclude on March 11 in Dharamshala with the fifth and final Test.
Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions and Rohit’s franchise in the league, took to X, formerly Twitter to share the pictures from the ‘Hitman’ nets session.
https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1749061027424071803
Rohit has a fine record against England, scoring 747 runs in 17 innings and nine Tests at an average of 49.80, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score is 161.
The Indian skipper is impeccable in Indian conditions, having scored 2,002 runs in 24 Tests at an average of 66.73, with eight centuries and six fifties in 36 innings. His best score is 212.
During England’s last tour to India back in 2021, Rohit scored 345 runs in four Tests at an average of 57.50, with a century and fifty in seven innings. His best score was 161.
During his last competitive cricket outing, the recent T20I series against Afghanistan this month, Rohit scored two ducks before launching Afghanistan bowlers all over the park for 121* in 69 balls, with 11 fours and eight sixes.
Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel has received a maiden call-up for the Indian Test squad for the first two Tests. However, injured star pacer Mohammed Shami, who continues to recover from his injury, was not named in the squad. India batter Ishan Kishan, who had asked for a break previously during the South Africa tour and Afghanistan T20Is, was not included in the squad.
Rohit will lead the team, with star pacer Jasprit Bumrah taking up the role of vice-captain. India has added three wicketkeepers, KL Rahul, KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel, to the squad.
India named four spinners — Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav–in their Test squad for the first two matches. In addition to having a formidable pace attack, India included Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mukesh Kumar in the strong 16-member squad. The middle-order positions are occupied by Virat Kohli, Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill in the batting lineup, which is unchanged.
Squad for first 2 Tests vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul (wk), K S Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc) and Avesh Khan. (ANI)