KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant take part in the optional practice session at Newlands

The first Test match in Cape Town provided an intriguing contest between both the teams. Vernon Philander‘s six-wicket haul sealed the deal for South Africa. On the other hand, it was a matter of ‘so near yet so far’ for India. They may have lost the first Test by 72 runs. However, at an optional practice session in Newlands, the ignored quartet could be seen training. This news comes ahead of the much-debated selections for the first Test. It was interesting to watch them gear up for practice.

Rahul, Rahane and Ishant train hard 

KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Parthiv Patel, all took turns to hit the nets. Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar and bowling coach Bharat Arun were also part of the training session that lasted for more than an hour.

Rahul and Rahane both batted in the adjacent nets, as they began from throw-downs to facing net bowlers. Ishant Sharma also bowled for a significant time. Parthiv was the last one to join the batting sessions.

While the wicketkeeper’s inclusion seems unlikely, it remains to be seen if the others would be preferred. There were a fair bit of questions raised over the inclusion of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma ahead of Rahul and Rahane. Ishant who has the experience of the South African conditions will also be hopeful of a chance in the Centurion Test.

BCCI tweeted about the training

Kohli justifies selection of Dhawan and Rohit in the first test

When asked about Rohit’s failures, Kohli cited that he was picked on the basis of current form. While the batter had a fairytale series against Sri Lanka, Rahane had a horrible one as his highest score was 10 in five innings.

Virat Kohli also supported Dhawan’s inclusion. The Indian skipper felt that it was the left-right combination that propelled him to opt for Dhawan. Other than his batting failures in Cape Town, Dhawan also committed a fielding lapse. He dropped Keshav Maharaj on zero in slips, who went on to score 32 runs.

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