As the bad weather is likely to play a spoilsport, according to the meteorological department, in the second One-day international between hosts India and visitors Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the members of the Men in Blue enjoyed the football practice beyond the boundary line.
Unfortunately, the iconic ground was under the cover from past many days after heavy downpour owing to the cyclonic circulation, in the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal kept ground-staff on their toes.
The Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue enjoyed the football session while showing their soccer skills which further saw delighted gloveman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni entertaining his teammates alongside members of the management.
Interestingly, Dhoni had already tasted the success with footy, at his tender age, before switching to the gentleman’s game – to carve a niche out of it.
“While #TeamIndia [Team India] could not train at the Eden Gardens due to rain, the boys had a fun footy [football] session ahead of the 2nd @Paytm ODI,” BCCI tweeted with the hash tag ‘#INDvAUS’.
While #TeamIndia could not train at the Eden Gardens due to rain, the boys had a fun footy session ahead of the 2nd @Paytm ODI #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/MMFhyiVEay
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 20, 2017
However, Australian players have preferred to practice indoor at the scenic ground, as Virat Kohli’s India had opted for the off-day.
It’s pertinent to mention that the 23-year-old left-arm spinner Axar Patel lost his hard-earned spot, for the first three ODIs while nursing sprain [twist] in his left ankle while playing football just two days before the build-up of five-match PayTm series which eventually kicked off in Chennai on September 17 (Sunday).
Patel got replaced by Ravindra Jadeja, who was rested owing to the rotational policy applied by the national selectors.
Jadeja was also rested for the Sri Lanka bilateral series which read the scoreline of 9-0 which comprised of three Tests, five ODIs, and One-off T20I. On the Twittersphere, one of the users posed a serious question regarding the fitness of current crop of players. The world-ranked No. 3 in ODIs, India would be aiming to repeat the Chennai show where they claimed a 26-run victory in the rain-truncated contest.
Moreover, the visitors have a huge task to cut out against the formidable side after struggling with the bat against slow bowling attack; Smith is expected to make some changes in the batting order, to earn the desired results in Kolkata where rains loom large over the second 50-over game.
While wrapping it up, the interesting fact is that Australia’s ICC World Cup campaign was shortened by the inclement weather in England and Wales, before starting off their major schedule with the rain-marred ODI at Chepauk.