England tour: Virat Kohli-led Indian side has centre wicket training in Durham; Rishabh Pant bats in the nets

Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who joined the Test side after recovering from Covid-19, also batted in the nets.

“Team India back at it and having a centre wicket training at Durham Cricket Club ahead of the five-match Test series against England,” the BCCI said in a tweet.

The BCCI also posted pictures of Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, flamboyant batsman KL Rahul, his Karnataka teammate and opener Mayank Agarwal and skipper Kohli batting in the nets. Similarly vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and senior opener Rohit Sharma too batted in the nets, as per the pictures tweeted.

???? Sample that for a fun drill session to get the side charged up! ???? ????#TeamIndia #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/0jUyaeWe6b

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 27, 2021

Earlier, the team played a three-day warm-up game against County XI here as a part of their preparation for the Test series. The game ended in a draw. The first Test starts at Trent Bridge, Nottingham starting August 4.

Meanwhile in Colombo, the second T20 International between India and Sri Lanka was postponed by a day after visiting all-rounder Krunal Pandya tested positive for COVID-19. Krunal, who tested positive on Tuesday, has been quarantined and the entire contingent’s RT-PCR test reports are awaited.

“The second T20I between Sri Lanka and India originally scheduled to be played on July 27 has been pushed forward by a day and will now take place on Wednesday, July 28,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media statement.

“Following the Rapid Antigen Tests conducted ahead of the match on Tuesday morning, Krunal Pandya was found to be positive. The Medical Teams have identified eight members as close contacts,” the release added.

The entire contingent is undergoing RT-PCR tests today to ascertain any further outbreak in the squad. “The reports will come in the evening (around 6 pm) and if everyone is in the clear, we can have the match on Wednesday. Maximum among the eight close contacts who are also in mandatory isolation are players,” Shah added.

The match was to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium here. Now there will be back-to-back matches on Wednesday and Thursday. India won the first T20 international by 38 runs and it is quite baffling as to how Krunal, who has been a part of the strict bio-bubble for the past month, contracted the virus.

The development is also likely to affect the travel plans of Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav, who were due to join the Indian team in England after this series for an upcoming Test assignment against England next month.

The duo was supposed to link up with the red ball squad in the UK after the completion of the T20 series and it is still not clear whether these two are among the eight, who were in close contact of Krunal. The third and final T20 is scheduled to be held on Thursday.

(With PTI inputs)