Cuttack: India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul lost track of days and assumed that it was a game day when he saw a huge crowd for the home team’s practice session at Barabati Stadium Saturday.
India and England are scheduled to play the second ODI of the three-match series at the venue on Sunday. The Rohit Sharma-led side arrived in Odisha with a 1-0 lead following their four-wicket win in Nagpur.
The Indian team reached Bhubaneswar Friday morning and had their first practice session at Barabati Stadium on the eve of the second encounter.
“We didn’t expect this. Came here into the dressing room and suddenly felt like we had lost track of days and forgot that today was a game day. That is how the energy and the vibe were. It’s good fun. It’s way different from how we usually practice. Just to have so many people come in even though it is just a practice session was something different,” Rahul said in a video posted by the BCCI.
A fan said she was there to watch Rohit Sharm’s practice session.
Saturday, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak confirmed Virat Kohli’s availability for the second ODI after the former captain missed the series opener due to a slight soreness in his right knee.
Kohli’s return throws up a dilemma for the Indian team management on who will go out of the playing eleven to accommodate the veteran right-handed batter.
In Nagpur, Shreyas Iyer came in for Kohli at the last minute and made an impactful 36-ball 59. With Iyer getting a fifty and playing one of the pivotal roles in India’s opening ODI series win, he can’t be surely dropped.
If India decides to bench Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his ODI debut in Nagpur, then Shubman Gill could be back to opening the batting alongside captain Rohit Sharma, thus leaving the No. 3 spot for Kohli.
It will be Kohli’s first ODI since playing on the tour of Sri Lanka in August last year, where India lost 2-0. Kohli needs to get runs before going into the Champions Trophy, considering his form has been under immense scrutiny following the mediocre Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
India and England have clashed five times in ODIs at the Barabati Stadium, with England winning three of those encounters and India securing victory twice.
As of February 2025, the Barabati Stadium has hosted 21 ODI matches, 19 of which involved India. India has won 12 of these games and lost seven.
IANS
