Sensing Rohit Sharma Could Get Hurt, Gautam Gambhir's Act In Practice Turns Heads Ahead Of India vs Australia 2nd ODI

With a talent like Yashasvi Jaiswal warming the bench, there is enormous pressure on Rohit Sharma to perform. The former skipper arrived at the Adelaide Oval practice arena on Wednesday at least 45 minutes before some of the other members joined him for an optional net session ahead of the second ODI on Thursday. The Indian cricket team is trailing Australia 0-1 in the three-match ODI series. The only member of the coaching staff present at the nets initially was head coach Gautam Gambhir. He was accompanied by two throw-down specialists - Dayanand Garani and Raghavendra. The rest of the coaching staff arrived later.

In fact, the first net Rohit entered was damp, and the throw-down deliveries were flying off the length. Sensing that the senior-most player in the team could get hurt, coach Gambhir advised him to shift to another net, where Rohit had a fairly long stint. As Rohit batted, Gambhir's eyes didn't leave him.

While Rohit was concentration personified, Virat Kohli took the day off after an extended net session on Tuesday. Despite his famed intensity, Kohli has appeared relaxed on this tour and has been happily obliging autograph hunters and selfie seekers.

"They both look in very good touch to me. They batted really well yesterday - every net session, their approach has been excellent. So I feel they are really batting well, to be very honest," batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said on the eve of the second ODI.

Squads:

India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

Match starts at 9 AM IST.

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