Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli denied net session in Colombo following heavy rains

On Sunday, July 28, six squad members of the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, including star batters Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul arrived in Colombo and checked into the ITC Ratnadipa Hotel. Rohit and Virat were the latest to arrive in the capital city, as others had already joined. They were initially scheduled to conduct their first practice session on Monday ahead of the forthcoming ODI series at the R. Premadasa Stadium, located approximately 6 kilometres from their accommodation.

On Monday morning, the weather in Colombo was overcast with a light drizzle. However, as the Indian contingent arrived at the ground sometime during late afternoon, the rain intensified dramatically. The heavens opened, unleashing a torrential downpour, causing a relentless pitter-patter on the characteristic blue and yellow seats. A few members of the Sri Lankan squad were also present, but it didn't help their cause.

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Journalist Vimal Kumar, who is currently present in the island nation, shared the information on his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle, and also reported that the practice session had to be called off, following the persistent rains and wet outfield. Vimal wrote, “Rain welcomes Rohit Sharma and his teammates just when they arrived in stadium for first practice session!”

Rain welcomes Rohit Sharma and his teammates just when they arrived in stadium for first practice session! pic.twitter.com/kO1IDCu2JM

— Vimal कुमार (@Vimalwa) July 29, 2024

Seasoned Sri Lankan all-rounder, Angelo Mathews, Abhishek Nayar, and Rohit were observed conversing on the stadium stairs leading to the upper deck dressing room as they watched the deluge helplessly. 

The Indian team management had assigned Nayar, head coach Gautam Gambhir's deputy, to supervise the session in Colombo. The assistant coach had departed for Colombo on Monday morning, following the second T20I.

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India's ODI squad vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Riyan Parag, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana