India and Mumbai Indians teammates Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya were seen training together on Friday ahead of the Champions Trophy. (Instagram)
With India slated to announce their 15-member squad for next months’ ICC Champions Trophy on Saturday, ODI captain Rohit Sharma has stepped up his preparations after a disastrous Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.
On Tuesday, Rohit had turned up for practice in the Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy camp before the red-ball tournament resumes on January 23. The 37-year-old Rohit was later seen practising with his Mumbai Indians teammates, inclduing captain Hardik Pandya, at the Reliance Corporate Park in Navi Mumbai.
In a video shared by Mumbai Indians on Instagram, Hardik is seen bowling to Rohit in full-tilt in the open nets under lights at the ground. While Hardik is seen attacking the stumps, a watchful Rohit unfurled a series of dabs, cuts and drives to fend off the seam all-rounder. Earlier in the day, Rohit had shared clips from a training session where he exhibited his trademark shotmaking range against the white-ball in full flow.
While Rohit and Pandya are sure-shot picks in the squad, India will reveal their complete team roster in a press conference attended by the captain and head coach Ajit Agarkar on Saturday.
Despite his horrendous Test run ended with only 31 runs in five innings in Australia, Rohit would hope it will not hamper the supreme white-ball touch he has built over the last three years. Rohit led India’s batting machinery at the home ODI World Cup, slamming 597 runs with a strike-rate in excess of 120. The Indian captain was also a key performer during India’s T20 World Cup in the Americas last year.
Despite losing their only ODI series in 2024 in Sri Lanka, Rohit was the top-scorer of the series with 157 runs in three innings. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Pandya will also be gearing up to make his first international 50-over appearance during the upcoming three-match ODI series against England.
Pandya had missed a substantial amount of international cricket after being ruled out of the ODI World Cup due to an ankle injury in October 2023. Rohit and Hardik were at the centre of attention last year during the IPL when the latter was booed by fans at their home Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai when he took over the reins of the franchise from their five-time title-winning captain.
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