Raipur: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma seemed oblivious to the loud whispers around them, as the stalwarts went about their intense net session in tandem against throw-down specialists during India’s nets here ahead of Wednesday’s second ODI against South Africa.
Intrigue has been on a steady rise regarding the future of Kohli and Rohit, bringing the road of ICC ODI World Cup 2027 into the mix.
But having charted the team’s victories in the last two ODIs against Australia and South Africa, the two seniors did not look in a mood to take the foot off the pedal here on Tuesday.
Kohli looked in prime touch as he went hard against the throw-down specialists Raghu (right-arm) and Nuwan Seneviratne (left-arm) who cranked it up.
It was a captivating phase under lights, with Kohli middling most of the deliveries but on occasions he was beaten by the raw pace generated by Raghu.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir was a close observer of the proceedings while stationing himself between the two nets on either end of the centre.
But once done, Kohli trained both the bats on his shoulders and walked past Gambhir without having a word. For those following the developments surrounding Indian cricket for the last few days, it would have been a sight with several angles.
However, Rohit, who followed Kohli into the change room shortly, did stop for a while to speak with Gambhir.
The cynosure was, indeed, Kohli and Rohit but action was no less intense in the adjacent nets where other Indian players sweated it out ahead of the ODI which India would want to win and seal the series.
The hosts are sitting on a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after a win at Ranchi on Sunday.
The mood among the other batters was to go hard and be as aggressive as possible, with the contest on a black soil here at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium could be another bat-off between the two teams.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s strokes on the leg side landed into the stands and the young opener even rolled over his arm to Rishabh Pant, who was the last among the Indian batters to hit the nets.
