Ahead Of The Second Test, Kohli and Co. Seen Sweating At The Nets

INDIA WENT DOWN IN THE FIRST TEST

India was defeated by England in the first Test match by 31 runs. The Kohli-led squad had to face severe criticism, except for Kohli, the entire batting line-up failed. Only Kohli was able to score 200 runs in the two innings as none of the other players were able to perform well and stay at the crease for long. As a result, the Men in Blue lost the first Test at Edgbaston.

On Tuesday, the entire Indian team was seen sweating at the nets and working on their batting skills. The squad seems to be determined to level the series at the Home of Cricket. In an 18-second video posted by BCCI, Kohli was seen working on his defence and practising cover drive.

#TeamIndia Captain @imVkohli gearing up for the 2nd Test match at @HomeOfCricket.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/pii9cogOXS

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 7, 2018

SQUAD LACKED PREPARATION: GAVASKAR

Recently, veteran cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was seen criticising the team for its lack of preparation and practice for the first Test. He even said that lack of practice disappointed visitors dearly as batsmen’s poor technique against moving deliveries was thoroughly exposed.

“There was no preparation at all,” Gavaskar said, referring to the three-day warm-up game. “I can understand that you need to switch off after a series but that can’t be five days at a stretch. Yes, it can be three plus three-day breaks between matches but not five days,” he added.

In the first test match, Kohli drive out his demons as he hit a brilliant 149 and 51 runs in the two innings respectively.

Amidst all this, England announced their 13-man squad for the second Test, in which they have dropped Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes, who is not available for the Test because of the ongoing hearing in the Bristol nightclub brawl case.

SQUAD FOR SECOND TEST MATCH

England:
Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes.

India:
Virat Kohli(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami.