Rohit & Co sweat it out in Chennai, Bangla gear up too

Indian skipper focusses on slow spinners ahead of Bangla test.

Rohit Sharma and Co had another extensive training session in the build-up to the first Test against Bangladesh with all 16 squad members turning for practice at the Chepauk here on Monday.

After a day off, the India squad members took part in their third training session since their arrival here last week. The first Test begins on Thursday.

As is often the case, Virat Kohli was among the first set of batters to hit the ‘nets’. In the adjacent net was southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal as both he and Kohli faced Jasprit Bumrah and home hero R Ashwin.

The next set of batters included skipper Rohit, Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan, who arrived here after taking part in a second-round Duleep Trophy match in Anantapur. The captain focussed on playing spinners keeping Bangladesh’s slow bowling attack in mind.

Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and pacer Mohammed Siraj also faced local bowlers and a significant amount of throwdowns.

The practice pitch at the main square offered a decent amount of bounce.

India will have two more practice sessions scheduled before the series opener against Bangladesh, who are riding on the confidence of their series sweep in Pakistan.

Most players in the playing eleven select themselves. The Chennai surface usually favours the spinners and there is a likelihood of India going into the game with three spinners and two pacers. The spinners expected to feature are Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav while Bumrah and Siraj will share workload in the pace department. Axar Patel, despite his impressive all-round returns across formats, may have to sit out.