India vs Bangladesh: Indian team commence practice sessions in Chennai

Hyderabad: The Indian men’s cricket team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and other members of the support staff, completed their first practice session ahead of the first Test match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

The India vs Bangladesh first Test match starts on September 19.

Team India’s head coach Gambhir, bowling coach Morne Morkel, batting coach Vikram Rathour were also present along with the entire Indian squad.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared team India’s training session on social media and captioned it: “The countdown starts as Team India begin their preps for an exciting home season.”

Gambhir, the support staff and skipper Rohit Sharma addressed the members of the Indian team before the practice session and the players started their drills soon after.

The members of the Indian team arrived in Chennai in batches over the last two days. Rohit came from Mumbai on Thursday while Kohli reached Chennai early on Friday morning from London, where he is now residing.

Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant reached Chennai late on Thursday.

The Indian team will be back in action after a break of almost one month. India last played Sri Lanka in three T20s and ODIs. The Indian team lost the ODI series.

The upcoming India vs Bangladesh Test match will be Gambhir’s first Test match as the coach of the Indian team. India are gearing up for a gruelling season ahead, that includes 10 Test matches – two against Bangladesh, three against New Zealand at home and five Test matches against Australia in Australia.

All the Test matches are a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. India are on top of the WTC points table with 68.52 percentage points. Australia are second with 62.50 percentage points.

The two Test matches against Bangladesh will be played in Chennai and Kanpur. Bangladesh have played three Test matches in India and are still searching for their first Test victory on Indian soil.

Bangladesh recently beat Pakistan 2-0 in a Test series played at Rawalpindi in Pakistan. The triumph marked Bangladesh’s first series win over Pakistan.