India T20 WC Practice – Rahul Dravid’s Message to BIG-3: The Indian team had an almost five hours of practice session at Perth on Saturday. Head coach Rahul Dravid kept a close watch on all the players during the nets session. In fact, he had a big message to his players in Australia, especially his top three batters, asking them to adjust to the bounce. Likewise, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul spent around an hour each in the nets. Follow India in T20 World Cup live updates with InsideSport.IN
Rahul Dravid’s Message to BIG-3 – INDIA T20 WC Squad: With it, the team management has made their intentions very clear to prepare for the T20 World Cup challenge. Ever since they landed in Australia, the Indian team has been putting in serious work in Perth.
If India are to do well in the World Cup, they need their big guns including Rohit, Kohli and Rahul to fire alongside the bowlers. The biggest challenge for the Indian batters will be adjusting to the conditions in Australia.
Long net session for Kohli and KL Rahul at the WACA this morning. #Cricket #kohli pic.twitter.com/QGAe98v5N6
— Gav Joshi (@Gampa_cricket) October 8, 2022
Despite the trio’s experience of having played in Australia, adjusting to the bounce is a must in their to-do list before the World Cup. No wonder, they batted for long hours at the nets to be on top of their game before their first game at the World Cup. Men in Blue will start their campaign with a blockbuster India vs Pakistan game at the MCG on October 23.
Top 3 T20Is record in Australia
Rohit – 7 inns, 181 runs, SR of 131.15, two half-centuries
Rahul – 5 inns, 108 runs, SR of 112.50, one half-century
Kohli – 10 inns, 451 runs, SR of 144.55, five half-centuries
One look at India’s top three record in Australia in the shorter format shows how Kohli has mastered the art of batting Down Under. He has scored 450 plus runs and has five 50 plus scores. But the record of the openers is slightly concerning, especially KL Rahul. The man from Karnataka has struggled with just 108 runs. Even Rohit has not been at his rollicking best in Australia with 181 runs.
It is at that juncture their nets sessions at Perth will help them prepare them well. The opening duo will hope to adjust to the conditions quickly and play an integral role in the ICC event.
India T20 WC Practice: Coach Rahul Dravid’s message for BIG-3, ‘adjust to bounce’, Rohit, KL Rahul, Virat bats for 1 hour each in nets: CHECK OUT
It is important to note that Indian cricketers are born and bred in slower conditions, and playing in Australia is a different thing altogether. Players will need to adjust to the pace and the bounce. Besides, the Indian players have played a lot of cricket in the sub-continent before they landed in Australia. If they played the Asia Cup in August and September in UAE, Rohit and co hosted India and South Africa at home recently.
It is for the same reason, India landed Down Under almost two weeks before the tournament. Also, many of India’s T20 squad players have not featured in Australia in the shorter format. For them, it is an even bigger case of adjusting to the bouncier conditions.
As per of their preparations, India will be playing four practice games October 10 onwards. They will face Western Australia twice, on October 10 and 13. They will also battle it out against Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19 respectively.
India T20 WC Practice: Coach Rahul Dravid’s message for BIG-3, ‘adjust to bounce’, Rohit, KL Rahul, Virat bats for 1 hour each in nets: CHECK OUT
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