Virat Kohli 'gets into the groove' ahead of South Africa tour

The Indian national team touched down at the Capetown airport in the early hours on Friday ahead of the first Test on 5th of January. Following that, the Indian team went straight to their respective hotel rooms before their scheduled practise session today.

After having a relaxed session yesterday, the Indian team were out on the field ahead of the crucial encounter against the home side. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a video of Virat Kohli’s practice in the nets. In the video, the right-handed batsman could be seen knocking the ball effortlessly off the middle of the bat.

The Indian skipper knocked a few balls on the off-side before getting on to the straight drives. Following that, Kohli flicked one nonchalantly off to the leg-side as he looked ever-so-solid. Further, in the throw-down, Kohli was seen knocking the remaining deliveries to the off-side as preparations were underway in South Africa.

Earlier in the day, Team India was dealt with a huge blow as left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out for an injury that he sustained in the training session. Further, reports suggested that Dhawan would be up and running by the time the first Test comes to a close.

Watch the video here

Getting into the groove is #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/ybNqEWVKRm

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2017

KL Rahul all set to open the innings

Right-handed KL Rahul is set to take his place in the playing XI alongside another right-hander Murali Vijay at the top of the order. The Indian team won’t be playing any practise matches before the first Test and has instead opted for practise sessions.

This decision, according to various sources seemed to have taken well in advance by the team management. As soon as they landed in South Africa, team management told the BCCI that they prefer to train on their own. India, have not won a single Test series in South Africa from the past 25 years and Kohli and co would be itching to break down that record.

Catch more developments on this and top lead ‘cricket news‘ on CricTracker