India's fielding coach T Dilip announced on Monday that he has been incorporating mini-competitions into the training sessions in preparation for the first Test match against Bangladesh, beginning on September 19. A video shared by the BCCI on social media showed that Virat Kohli's squad excelled in a rigorous training session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The fielding coach disclosed that the team’s training was divided into two segments: one group of players participated in a fielding contest, while the other group engaged in general training activities.
“Today the whole idea was to get everyone together as a team where we have done two segments – the competition drill, taking into consideration the humidity in Chennai, where the volume was less but the intensity was there. So, we split into two groups and had some mini competitions in catching and the smaller number of errors in the team won. Today Virat’s team which has won today,” Dilip said in the video.
Intensity 🔛 point 😎🏃♂️Fielding Coach T Dilip sums up #TeamIndia’s competitive fielding drill 👌👌 – By @RajalArora#INDvBAN | @IDFCFIRSTBankpic.twitter.com/eKZEzDhj9A
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 16, 2024
“Overall, I would say that it was fantastic, especially keeping the hot conditions in mind. The best part of this group was that throughout all sessions the intensity was great,” he added.
In the video, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were observed making impressive dives across the field, and Yashasvi Jaiswal also took some outstanding catches. T Dilip received support from Abhishek Nayar during the training sessions.
Following a day of rest, the Indian team members participated in their third training session since arriving last week. India has two additional practice sessions planned before the start of the series opener.
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Sarfaraz Khan also put in considerable effort during their net sessions. The captain concentrated on facing spin bowlers, preparing for Bangladesh’s slow bowling attack. Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj faced local bowlers and received numerous throwdowns.