Indians skip practice while Virat Kohli misses pre-match briefing

The much-awaited overseas tour is finally going to start on January 5. India will begin 2018 facing South Africa in what could be a defining series that would set the tone for the rest of the year. The Men in Blue dominated the home conditions in 2017 having won all the bilateral series.

Several experts have claimed that the current Indian setup is the best ever and this team can rule world cricket for 4-5 years. However, they must focus on a Herculean task ahead that is to beat the Proteas something no Test team from the country has managed in the past.

Pre-tour build up

Earlier, the Indian team had opted against the two day warm-up matches. In a warm-up game, they would have had to follow the rules and play according to the match situations in which many players may not get sufficient time in the middle.

They went for practice sessions instead as it would allow them to alter the pitch as per their needs and test the players accordingly. On Thursday, the players opted out of the optional practice session ahead of the first Test in Cape Town. The bigger news was that of Virat Kohli skipping the pre-match press briefing.

It was surprising to see none of the players turned up for the practice session. Usually, the players who are not going to feature in the following game have an extended practice session. Preparations to the hectic tour have been a little different this time around.

Much to the dismay of the reporters and television crews, the Indian skipper Kohli was absent from the pre-match press interaction. The Indian media manager confirmed that there was no word from Cricket South Africa either regarding the presence of captain for the briefing.

Sanjay Bangar, India’s assistant coach attended the briefing to address the media after a delay of over an hour. It was strange to see Kohli skip the press meet as he has never missed a pre-series briefing earlier and his predecessor also made a point to address the media.