Team India under the leadership of Virat Kohli was seen sweating it out in the nets ahead of the first Test against South Africa, which is scheduled to commence in Cape Town, starting January 5.
The Indian cricket team had touched down in the picturesque city on Friday morning and after having a quiet first day, the cricketers took to the ground to familiarise themselves with the conditions, on Saturday.
Skipper Kohli was seen stroking the ball in training and the official account of the BCCI uploaded the same on Twitter and the post read: Getting into the groove is “#TeamIndia captain @imVkohli”
Getting into the groove is #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/ybNqEWVKRm
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2017
Top-order maestro Cheteshwar Pujara also looked in high spirits as he posed for the camera before joining Virat in the nets.
.@cheteshwar1 all set to hit the nets #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/1oFm5qHIfL
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2017
Meanwhile, opener KL Rahul was looking high on confidence after his heroics in the recently-concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka, as he was smashing the ball out of the park during training to make his intentions clear for this tour.
Coach Ravi Shastri was closely monitoring India’s first training in South Africa and he will be assuming that the players get familiarized with the conditions sooner than later as there is not much time left for the first Test.
The Indian team will look to break their poor record in South Africa as they have never won a series against the Proteas in their backyard in six previous attempts. Team India has played 17 Tests against the Proteas in South Africa, winning two and losing on eight occasions, while seven Tests ended in draws.
India will play three Tests Commencing on January 5 in Newlands, Cape Town. They also face South Africa in six ODIs and three T20Is.
