The Indian squad put in a productive first official practise session ahead of the first Twenty20 International match against South Africa on Monday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
The squad proceeded to the neighbouring west stand nets for net workouts after some fitness drills. Everyone took part in the practise session except Hardik Pandya, Harshal Patel, and Yuzvendra Chahal. The first batsmen to take on the bowlers were captain K.L Rahul, Ishan Kishan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
While Rahul and Kishan were in the nets facing pacers and spinners, Gaikwad had to deal with some throwdowns led by Raghu.
Venkatesh Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, and one of the net bowlers from Delhi, Simarjeet Singh, bowled in unison against Kishan, altering their lengths and putting the left-handed batter to the test.
Head coach Rahul Dravid was spotted having a lengthy discussion with pacer Avesh Khan, while bowling coach Paras Mhambrey was seen giving Venkatesh and Simarjeet advice.
The next batsmen to face the bowlers were vice-captain Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Dinesh Karthik. Shreyas began with batting against throw-downs, while Pant alternated between Avesh and Umran Malik, while Karthik faced Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi.
Umran was superb in bowling against Pant, hustling with pace and keeping the left-hander on a short leash with Dravid watching intently.
Apart from that, Pant was concentrating on shots at the fourth stump line, using a leg-side flick and remaining disciplined with balls pitched off-stump.
In the meantime, Karthik was practising scoops and leg-side shots against throw-down specialists, while Shreyas was putting himself to the test against leg-spinners, one of his weak points in IPL 2022, and faced largely good-length deliveries.
Pant was next to face the spinners, and he countered them by dancing down the pitch and presenting the entire bat face.
Venkatesh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar batted next, with Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel joining them. Bhuvneshwar played shots that oozed polish and confidence, while Venkatesh hit some thunderous shots.
Dravid was conversing with Rahul, batting coach Vikram Rathour, and top selector Chetan Sharma in the meantime.
Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mhambrey finished the session by working with Arshdeep on his yorkers from the round-the-wicket angle, saying 'quicker through the air' in between to the left-arm pacer.
Baseball gloves were maintained along the tramline, and a bottle of energy drink was kept at the blockhole. Arshdeep was supposed to hit these spots consistently and simplify the bowler's line.
The five-match T20I series between India and South Africa will begin on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with India on a 12-match winning streak in the format.