Unlike the vibrancy of Adelaide and Melbourne, Perth bears a rather grim look; not to forget the unforgiving sun beaming above your head in full shine. The sunscreens were out, the hats took prominence and the sunglasses shone bright under the sweltering heat here at the WACA as team India began preparations for their next World Cup fixture against UAE. As their opponents were putting up a valiant effort some three and a half thousand kilometers away, India began their practice drills with a fun game of football and rigorous fielding drills.
The team was divided in sets of three and given some catches to hold on to along with a few speed drills to work on the ground fielding. The support staff sweated it out and kept cheering the players on occasions of a good catch or a direct hit at the stumps. There were a few tough catches taken by Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja, running behind with the sun blaring above them and it received much appreciation from fielding coach R Sridhar and head coach Duncan Fletcher.
A little while later the team was divided in two with the batsmen on one side and the bowlers on the other. Then began a game of fielding wherein the team with the maximum direct-hits was declared the winner. The competition looked intense with both sides trying their best to hit the stumps. A few misses and some close shaves later, Shikhar Dhawan struck to get his team off the mark much to the joy of his fellow teammates.
Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar both gave the boys a stint of ground fielding working on different angles in the process. The batting team won with a considerable margin and the team moved towards the corner of the ground to set themselves up for a game of football. The shadows began to get longer and after close to an hour, a few goals and a lot of cheers, the team headed back to the cool confines of the team hotel. The team avoided bowling or batting at the nets.
By: BCCI
