Rohit Sharma Skips Net Practice Ahead Of New Zealand Match. Report Provides Worrying Update

Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma was the only frontline batter to not go into the nets during a practice session on Wednesday ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 match against New Zealand, according to a report by Times Of India. Following the win over Pakistan, Indian players trained for the first time at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Academy and although all players warmed up by playing football and running laps, Rohit did not take part in any strenuous physical activity. The report claimed that he "jogged gently under the watch of Strength & Conditioning coach Soham Desai" but was not moving freely. He suffered a hamstring injury during the game against Pakistan but during the post-match presentation, he said that he was doing fine and there was no cause for any worry.

According to the report, Rohit did not face any throwdowns and just did some shadow batting while having discussions with head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of the coaching staff.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli spent a lot of time facing spinners even as bowling coach Morne Morkel rejoined the side after attending to a personal emergency back home.

Virat not only faced the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja during the training session but also spent more than half an hour plying the net bowlers ahead of the clash against New Zealand on Sunday.

Pace bowling stalwart Mohammed Shami too was seen bowling at full tilt, swinging the ball both ways and rapping Kohli twice on his pads, while Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh too looked determined to give their best during the session.

Under the watchful eyes of Morkel, all bowlers looked sharp and geared up to take up the New Zealand challenge.

Morkel had to leave the Indian camp a couple of days before the team's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on February 20.

The former South Africa pacer was seen having a long chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir as the players did their warm-up drills at the ICC Academy. Shubman Gill, who has been India's stand out batter in the tournament, was the only one who did not turn up for practice.

(With PTI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Rohit Sharma Shubman Gill Gautam Gambhir India Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Cricket