When a few Indian team members participated in a social game of cricket with school kids at the Ageas Bowl, the guys from the dressing room gallery ensured there was entertainment all around
Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni share a light moment yesterday
Southampton: With Rishabh Pant joining the Indian team as a replacement for injured Shikhar Dhawan, the Indian team members are seeing this as a good opportunity to spur the competition between the young wicketkeeper and Hardik Pandya.
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Yesterday, when a few Indian team members participated in a social game of cricket with school kids at the Ageas Bowl, the guys from the dressing room gallery ensured there was entertainment all around.
When they saw Pant hitting a ball out of the ground, Pandya was challenged to send the ball out of the park too with his teammates spurring him on. After Pandya missed a few shots, the laughter became louder from the balcony. Not one to give up easily, Pandya requested for a few more balls to which MS Dhoni remarked: "Abbe yahan bhi ek aur ball maang raha hai [he is requesting to bowl a few more balls here too]". Pandya hit a few balls cleanly but it didn't go the distance and Pant got one-up on him in this battle.
'Vijay Shankar doing fine'
There were concerns regarding Vijay Shankar's fitness after the all-rounder did not bat and bowl in the nets yesterday. All he did was some stretching with the fitness and conditioning coach Shanker Basu.
Vijay was hit on the toe during Tuesday's training session here by a Jasprit Bumrah delivery. When Bumrah was asked about his pace hurting his teammates, he said: "We don't want to injure the batsmen but (smiles) sometimes in the nets when you bowl, nobody tells the batsmen not to hit. It's unfortunate he got hit but he's okay. You have to do your preparation."
Pant or DK on Saturday?
Rishabh Pant batted for quite a while in the nets yesterday ahead of India's World Cup clash v Afghanistan. Dinesh Karthik too got a decent time in the nets. If Vijay Shankar is rested tomorrow as a precaution, Pant or DK may get a chance. Pant was seen giving it his all during fielding too, which promoted his teammates to tell him to go easy.
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