Guwahati: Ahead of their clash with New Zealand in the Super 12 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup, Team India took part in an unusual training drill in Dubai on Saturday. Both the ‘Men in Blue’ and the Kiwis lost their opening games to Pakistan, and will look to register their first win when they face off at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday posted a video on their Instagram handle where the Indian players were seen taking part in a strange drill.
Cricket’s governing body seemed to be flummoxed by India’s new drill and asked fans to name it.
“Name this training drill #T20WorldCup,” ICC captioned the video.
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In the video, skipper Virat Kohli, vice-captain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, among others, were involved in a one-handed catching drill.
By the looks of it, the training session seemed a fusion of tennis, football, and cricket.
India were comprehensively beaten by Pakistan in their first match of the Super 10 stage. In what is being viewed by many as a virtual knockout game, India will hope to get their combination right against a well-balanced New Zealand side.
In T20Is, India and New Zealand have crossed path 17 times, with 8 wins apiece and a draw. But, as far as World Cup games are concerned, the Blackcaps have won both the games against the ‘Men in Blue’.
India, however, have dominated New Zealand in recent times, having won each of the last 5 matches in the shortest format of the game.
India’s Predicted XI vs New Zealand: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja/Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand Predicted XI vs India: Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert(wk), Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell/Todd Astle, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult A
