Champions Trophy: KL Rahul will no longer stain aerial fire, Rishabh Pant increased tension

Last updated:February 18, 2025, 19:19 IST

KL Rahul vs Rishabh Pant: Rishabh Pant is pushing to make a place in the playing XI and in such a situation, 32 -year -old Rahul appeared to adopt more active and power hitting mentality.

KL Rahul wants to make a place in the Indian team of Champions Trophy

Dubai: KL Rahul, who is gearing up to play the role of Finisher, practiced to put big shots before the first match of the Champions Trophy. India will start its campaign in the tournament from 20 February at Dubai International Stadium from Bangladesh. Known for his technically strong batting, Rahul focused on playing an attacking shot.

Practice of sixes on every ball
Rahul, who played a fast innings of 40 off 29 balls in the third ODI against England, was seen practicing sixes on almost every ball. Rahul’s role ready to bat at fifth or sixth will be important in the last over, where he may need to speed up the innings and he could have been seen practicing ‘range hitting’. Shreyas Iyer, who batted aggressively in the recent series, also worked on his attacking game.

Gill’s late cut and touch shot
Opener Shubman Gill, who became the best player of the series scoring ODIs 87, 60 and 112 against England, was seen in a spectacular form and put many magnificent strokes including brilliant drive, bridge. India’s captain Rohit Sharma, who returned to the form by playing a brilliant innings of 119 runs in the second ODI against England, also appeared in the rhythm. He practiced late cut and touch shot.

How is Rishabh Pant’s injury now?
Virat Kohli, the mainstay of Indian batting, also spent time in improving his skills. He looked full of confidence while trying to play the ball from between the bat and late. However, during the training on Sunday, Rishabh Pant appeared struggling after a hurt on Hardik Pandya’s shot. He was seen a little lame. He did not do wicketkeeping and fielding practice and when he came to bat, he did not even see the rhythm.

Practice by dividing three parts
The practice session started with the ‘Direct Hit’ competition between the three teams. The team led by Rohit included Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas. The team won after the decisive throw of the Indian captain. One team had Gill, Mohammed Shami, Akshar Patel, Varun Chakraborty and Washington beautiful. A team belonged to Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul, Harshit Rana and Kohli.