Indian team practiced hard ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh that is to be played in Chennai from September 19. The second Test of the series will be played in Kanpur from September 27 onwards.
Both these Tests are part of the ICC WTC 2023-25 cycle that has India at no.1 position with 68.52 PCT, On the other hand, Bangladesh is placed 4th with a 45.83 PCT. Bangladesh are also coming off a historic maiden 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, India's fielding coach, T Dilip, claimed that he has been engaging the players in mini-competitions during training sessions.
Dilip disclosed in a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) video that Virat Kohli's team performed admirably during a hard training session at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium on Monday.
Dilip revealed that the squad was separated into smaller teams and competed against each other during intensive training. The coach stated that India trained in two segments: one for competition and one for overall training.
"Today the whole idea was to get everyone together as a team where we have done two segments - the competition drill, taking into consideration the humidity in Chennai, where the volume was less but the intensity was there. So we split into two groups and had some mini competitions in catching and the lowest number of errors in the team won. Today Virat's team which has won," T Dilip said in the BCCI video.
Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were spotted diving around the park, and Yashasvi Jaiswal also had some excellent opportunities. Abhishek Nayar assisted T Dilip during the training.
"In the second drill we split two batches, the bowlers and all-rounders were split into two stations where outfield and infield catching was done with attacking ground fielding. Today the second group, which was the batters' group, was standing in the slip cordon and short-leg.
Overall, I would say that it was fantastic, especially keeping the hot conditions in mind. The best part of this group was that throughout all sessions the intensity was great," he further added.
Here is the video:
