T20 World Cup: We have got what we wanted from practice sessions in Australia, says India's support staff

11.10.2022 - 13:15 timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Fourteen members of the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team reached Australia almost 20 days prior to its T20 World Cup opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 and has been busy preparing for the tournament at the WACA ground here.

The Indian players have been going through intense training, which includes sessions on endurance, batting and bowling at the nets and fielding practice.

Read AlsoT20 World Cup 2022: Complete format guideThe eighth edition of the T20 World Cup officially begins October 16 and a total of 45 matches are set to be played across 7 venues.

The event format will be group stage matches to determine 4 qualifier teams in Round 1, followed by the Super 12s (where 8 teams will be waiting for the 4 qualifiers) The sessions have been held under the watchful eyes of head coach Rahul Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach T Dilip. "The focus was on only about getting used to the conditions.

cricket bowling practice cup Rahul Dravid T.Dilip Vikram Rathour Australia India Pakistan

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India's batting coach said on Saturday that his side is not fazed by fast bowling as it prepared to face South Africa on a bouncy Perth pitch at the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

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Shami, who had reached Brisbane after recovering from COVID-19 and getting a go-ahead, had replaced an injured Jasprit Bumrah in the squad of 15. On Sunday, Shami had a full-fledged session with coach Rahul Dravid welcoming him in the mix after a lay-off of around three months.

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Rohit Sharma hit his first international half-century against South Africa on a bouncy Kingsmead track, everyone knew that there was a talent in town. Even as one was appreciative of Rohit's phenomenal talent, little did one know that a team with an average age of around 26 would conquer the world in a format that was very reluctantly accepted by its own board. Fifteen years down the line, another Indian team is hitting the Australian shores to regain the trophy, which once completely changed the demographics of Indian cricket. That was a team led by a new captain and no one knew what to expect of them, but as the 35-year-old Rohit gets ready to step onto the MCG, his team with an average of 30 and half would have to believe in the old adage: Winning is not everything but the only thing.

Watch: Virat Kohli Has A "Throwdown Specialist" In Rahul Dravid Ahead Of T20 World Cup

India batter Virat Kohli missed the first practice match of the team against Western Australia XI on Monday but he made sure he hit the nets to continue to train in Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting October 16. A video is going viral on social media that shows Kohli giving his best while batting in the nets. However, what hogged more limelight was the fact that it was India's head coach Rahul Dravid who was giving throwdowns to the star batter.

India strength and conditioning coach feels camp in Perth will help players immensely ahead of T20 World Cup

India had their first training session here on Friday and will be playing two warm up games on October 10 and 13 before they travel to Brisbane for the ICC organised practice matches ahead of their World Cup opener against Pakistan in Melbourne on October 23. "The upcoming 8-10 days are very crucial for us leading into the World Cup and I can't thank the management and BCCI enough to get these 8 days because we always feel we are rushed into the big tournaments playing so much cricket as Indian team.