Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer were seen batting in tandem on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the crucial Yo-Yo fitness tests were carried out and all the players comfortably surpassed the passing mark of 16.5.
On Friday (August 25), the Indian players were seen honing their primary skills in the training session. On the subsequent day, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill were seen batting in tandem as part of a match simulation.
During Star Sports' live coverage of India's training session, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar offered insights into the possible rationale behind this particular pairing.
Bangar suggested that India are preparing for a situation where star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are dismissed early in the innings. While Rohit opens the batting alongside Gill, Kohli comes in at one down spot.
During the training session on Saturday (August 26), Kohli also batted alongside all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who usually comes in at No. 6.
“You must have noticed that Shreyas and Gill batted together. I think it is in the anticipation where Rohit and Virat get dismissed early, Iyer and Gill will have to bat together. Or, where the no.4 batter is dismissed early and Virat Kohli is on the crease, and a left-hander is promoted to no.5, a provisional situation was created for that as well. See, players need to know about each other's game. Yes, they're playing for a long time but it's good to see these combinations in practice sessions,” Bangar told Star Sports.
While the Asia Cup 2023 is slated to get underway on August 30 with the Pakistan versus Nepal clash in Multan, India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Pallekele on September 2.