Kohli and boys get into groove ahead of Test series

DURHAM: Ahead of the fivematch Test series against England, Virat Kohli-led India is leaving no stone unturned to be prepared to the best of their ability for the high-voltage series.

The official Twitter handle of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared snippets from the training session on Saturday and it captioned the post as: “Snapshots from #TeamIndia’s nets session here at the Durham County Cricket Club.” Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and

KL Rahul were seen having a hit in the nets while Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami had a session with the ball.

Team India arrived in Durham on July 14 for the practice match which will be played behind closed doors. Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes will lead a 14-man squad which also includes recent Test debutant James Bracey and Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed, who made his Test debut against India in 2016.

“The squad was selected after consulting with the first-class counties on player availability and to provide some of the high-potential talent from across the county game with the opportunity to test themselves against the ICC World Test Championship finalists,” said ECB in an official statement.

The county players will bridge into a team environment and undergo the COVID-19 test before being cleared to play in the match. Team India will use Emirates Riverside as a home venue for their preparations this summer. The three-day game against a County Select will begin on July 20.

Also, India opener Shubman Gill has been ruled out for eight weeks after he suffered a shin injury post the final encounter at Ageas Bowl in Southampton. India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is currently in quarantine as he tested positive for COVID-19. Wriddhiman Saha is also in isolation as a close contact of support staff member Dayanand Garani who tested positive