Published: Mar 17, 2015, 12:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 17, 2015, 03:34 PM (IST)
Melbourne: The whole Indian team turned up for optional practice ahead of their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter-final against Bangladesh at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). India arrived in Melbourne on Monday and they were slated to have an optional training session on Tuesday afternoon. However, the whole team turned up for fielding and warm-ups on Tuesday as they get ready for the business end of the tournament. SCORECARD: India vs Bangladesh, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter-final
India entered the field around 3.30 PM local time and started off with a few warm-up exercises. They were then divided into three different groups for fielding practice. One of the groups practiced taking skiers, while the other two indulged in some ground fielding drills. Suresh Raina’s brilliance caught the eye as he took some good catches during the training session. Duncan Fletcher, Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar, the coaching staff were present and supervised the proceedings. Shakib Al Hasan treating ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter-final vs India as ‘just another game’
Following the fielding practice, the team then indulged in a game of football, their favourite ritual through their sessions. The centre at the MCG was covered as there was some rain earlier in the day. Bangladesh had started practicing in the nets just outside the arena, but had to then go to the indoor nets when the rain came down. The skies in Melbourne have been cloudy for the last few days and there was a forecast of rain on Thursday. Both teams would hope it stays away. MS Dhoni is lucky to have world class batting line-up in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Mushtaq Mohammad
India and Bangladesh face each other in the quarterfinal on Thursday. India topped Group B and as a result play Bangladesh who finished fourth in Group A. This is the first time Bangladesh will feature in an ICC Cricket World Cup knockout game. Their previous best performance came in the 2007 edition, when they made it through to the Super Eights, thanks to a victory against India.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_45)
