Lord’s test: Kohli, Sharma lead India’s 1st training session ahead of 2nd Test in England
India’s national cricket team hit the gates at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on Tuesday, two days before the 2nd test against England at the iconic venue. Captain Virat Kohli led their first training session in a bright and sunny session in London.
Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were out in the middle as well even as clips of Mayank Agarwal taking the nets surfaced on Tuesday. In a series of photos shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Maaynk was seen warming up with the rest of the team in London.
Rahul paired with Rohit at the top of the batting order for India in the series opener in Nottingham last week after Mayank was ruled out of the first Test with an injury.
Rahul made the most of the opportunity that came his way as he top-scored for India in the first innings with a solid 84. India’s big 3, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara failed to trouble the scorers much, but Rahul forged crucial stands to help India post 275 in their first innings.
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The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj were seen sweating it out at the nets on Tuesday. Bumrah silenced naysayers with a final show of fast bowling, picking up 9 wickets, including a 2nd innings 5-wicket haul. There were questions over Bumrah’s form after the World Test Championship final but the Mumbai Indians pacer was on top of his mark in Nottingham.
Meanwhile, head coach Ravi Shastri seemed to have to found the perfect spot to oversee the team’s training session as the former India captain was spotted at the Lord’s balcony with shades on along with his support staff.
“Good to be back at the @HomeOfCricket. Some very fond memories here #TeamIndia,” Ravi Shastri said in a social media post.
India last played a Test at Lord’s in 2018 and they lost to England by an innings and 159 runs. After having ran England close in the opening Test of the ongoing series, India will be looking for a repeat of 2014 as an MS Dhoni-led side had beaten England by 95 runs at the iconic venue.
India posted 275 runs in the first innings of the opening Test in Nottingham, sealing a healthy lead of 92 runs. Joe Root’s hundred helped England post 303 in the 2nd innings but India were looking good to gun down the target on the final day after heading to Stumps on Day 4 at 52 for 1. However, rain washed out the whole of the final day, denying India a good shot a victory and 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
