Rohit Sharma Undergoes Intense Training Ahead of England ODI Series

Former India captain Rohit Sharma ended up spending close to an hour in the nets during this long practice session at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday , July 12. In a Times of India piece, the seasoned opener seemed very focused on falling into a good rhythm and tuning his skills ahead of the first ODI vs England.

 

Seven members of India’s ODI squad trained again for a second day, as they basically waited for the rest of the group to show up from Southampton after the T20I series. That three match ODI set is set to get going in Birmingham on Tuesday, July 14 , then it moves to Cardiff on July 16 and London on July 19.

 

Rohit kicked off his two hour workout with fielding work under fielding coach T Dilip, then he went straight to the nets. Meanwhile Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul wrapped up their batting spells, Rohit stayed on and off, waiting his turn, and he also spent time chatting with teammates near the side lines.

 

After dealing with a few testing deliveries from the fast bowlers, Rohit sort of settled in pretty quickly. Then he asked the ground staff to untangle the practice net, and to get an open net match simulation going too, so he could bat in situations that were basically almost like the actual game.

 

Batting against the throwdown specialists Nuwan Senaviratne, Dayanand Garani and Raghavendra, Rohit would keep finding openings on the off side with this neat controlled strokeplay. He seemed more settled as the session went along, and then he wrapped up his batting stint after nearly an hour, around 4:15 PM, give or take.

 

Rohit will step into the England ODI series with a lot of confidence after making an important contribution in India’s 3-0 ODI series win over Afghanistan back in June. He notched 143 runs across three innings, averaging 47.66, while his strike rate sat at 115.32, and his best knock was 79 in Chennai.

 

The veteran opener has also come up with some really solid figures versus England in ODIs. He has racked up 846 runs in 23 games, at an average of 47.00 and a strike rate of 90.77, including three tons and four fifties . His best knock against England is still that unbeaten 137 from Trent Bridge.

 

All in all, Rohit has turned out in 285 ODIs and amassed 11,720 runs in 277 innings at an average of 48.83. The stat sheet shows 33 centuries and 62 half-centuries, while his top ODI score is still the legendary 264 vs Sri Lanka in Kolkata. He even managed to cross 14,000 List A runs during the second ODI against Afghanistan , not long after.

 

Also Read | Wasim Jaffer Defends Shreyas Iyer After India's Series Losses in Ireland and England

 

Virat Kohli kicked off his batting session by facing Jasprit Bumrah, Gurnoor Brar, and a local Birmingham fast man. At first he looked a bit bothered by that early seam movement, but then he moved over to the spinners, where he quickly found his rhythm, timing, and control again.

 

Kohli spent a lengthier time batting, right beside Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, during that intense practice session. As the training went on, he seemed to get a bit more comfortable and ended up with a bunch of assured shots, particularly when facing the spinners.

 

For the second straight day, Virat also took some time to guide a younger teammate after practice. On Saturday he offered batting tips to Shubman Gill and then on Sunday he spoke with 26-year-old fast bowler Gurnoor Brar. The way it happened was simple, the youngster came over for a bit of guidance and Virat shared some useful advice right there.