Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (R) alongside Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma in a practice session ahead of India vs Afghanistan series. (PTI)
Under the watchful eyes of India coach Gautam Gambhir, bowling coach Morne Morkel and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, Sooryavanshi was the first to hit the nets and received regular feedback from Kotak, with conversation extending to almost 20 minutes in some instances. Because they have been performing consistently, it is going to be a tight call. So much so that BCCI has begun hunting for a new Sports Science and Medicine head at the Centre of Excellence (CoE). Because the intensity is pretty high,” said the India skipper on the eve of the T20I series, he’s bound to get injured some way or the other. Because they are putting in efforts for the team, and if that effort turns out to be on the negative side, you can’t control it, it is.
For the players sitting outside, it’s important that I have an interaction with them along with the coach and give them that confidence that, no matter what, they will get their opportunity when the day comes,” said Shreyas Iyer . Iyer said the injury count is not frustrating while stressing that the sheer volume of cricket currently is bound to affect the players sooner rather than later. “Having all three of them in the team is a luxury. They are flawless in their own departments. Whoever gets the opportunity, it’s for the team’s benefit. Away from the top of the order dilemma, another point of worry for the Indian team will be the rising injury count ahead of the Asian Games in Japan. “I feel it’s not frustrating. We need to understand, first of all, the amount of matches a player is playing continuously, rigorously. “We also need to understand that not every player thinks of getting injured deliberately. Afghanistan squad: Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Nangeliya Kharote, Abdollah Amhedzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed.
Tilak Varma, who arrived earlier in the day, and Abhishek Sharma made up the trio who hit the nets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. New Delhi: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was one of three squad members who attended the optional practice session ahead of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan that begins on Sunday.
