IND vs SA: Anushka Sharma gives a sneak peek into Team India’s resort after arrival in Johannesburg

Team India are geared up for their South Africa sojourn, which has already gotten underway. The players reached the African nation on Thursday, December 16. Skipper Virat Kohli, his wife Anushka Sharma and their daughter Vamika also landed in South Africa. India’s red-ball matches, in the meantime, are scheduled to start on December 26 with the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Team India players are currently staying in a five-star resort, named Irene Country Lodge in Pretoria. Recently, Anushka, also a renowned Bollywood actress, on Thursday, December 16, posted a story on Instagram where she gave a glimpse of the resort.

Anushka Sharma’s post

The Irene Country Lodge has acted as a part of bio-secure bubbles for a number of teams, including Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka over the last 12 months. India’s tour of South Africa was well and truly under the clouds due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. However, the BCCI and CSA ensured that the tour didn’t get cancelled.

The Test matches were scheduled to start on December 17, but had to be postponed by a week. Other than Centurion, the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and the Newlands in Cape Town will host the remaining two red-ball games in South Africa.

The BCCI also shared pictures of the Indian players upon their arrival at the Johannesburg airport. ‘Touchdown South Africa’, tweeted the BCCI. Prior to that the BCCI also shared photos before the cricketers were leaving for South Africa. “All buckled up, South Africa bound,” wrote the Indian board on Twitter.

After the three Tests, India are also scheduled to take part in as many ODIs to be played at the Boland Park in Paarl and the Newlands. Earlier, India named an 18-member squad for the Test matches, but the squad for the ODI series is yet to be announced. Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the Tests due to a hamstring injury and Priyank Panchal has replaced him.

India’s Test squad

Virat Kohli (C), Priyank Panchal, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.