Virat Kohli was seen shadow practicing in a room filled with his teammates.© X (Twitter)
Gautam Gambhir's first series as head coach of the Indian team ended in a 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in Pallekele. With senior batter like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma now retired from T20Is, the selectors made Suryakumar Yadav the captain for the three-match series. On Tuesday, India won the third and final T20I via Super Over to give Gambhir a brilliant present in his first-ever bilateral series. However, the focus now shifts towards a three-game ODI series, starting with the first game on August 2. It was earlier reported that both Kohli and Rohit would skip the ODI series, having asked for a break after helping India win the T20 World Cup.
However, Gambhir wanted both to be the part of the squad and convinced the two star batters to feature against Sri Lanka. As a result, both arrived in Sri Lanka last week ahead of the 1st ODI.
Kohli trained with the team on Monday, while the likes of Rohit and the returning KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer were also seen batting in the nets.
During one of the training sessions, Kohli was visibly upset when a fan referred to him as 'Chokli'. The former India captain was seen shadow practicing in a room filled with his teammates.
Kohli gave a serious look to the fan, why also saying "not here". The video has now gone viral on social media but some users called it 'fake'.
— (@rushiii_12) July 31, 2024Someone called Virat Kohli a chokli in front of him in the dressing room of Colombo ground in Sri Lanka, after which Virat got angry.
No way now Lankan fan's also owning Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/ru4KbRUfBX
Meanwhile, former South African fast bowler Morne Morkel is expected to join Gambhir's coaching staff as a bowling coach, starting with the home series against Bangladesh in September. Gambhir has indicated that the team management is currently evaluating the coaching setup during the six-match series in Sri Lanka, with plans to establish a comprehensive coaching staff for future series, Cricbuzz reported.
— CinemaCricketUniverse (@MoviesUniverse9) July 31, 2024
Sairaj Bahutule, who specializes in spin bowling and is currently serving as an interim bowling coach for the Sri Lanka tour, may continue in his role if the management finds it beneficial. However, with Morkel's expertise lying primarily in fast bowling, the team might still require a dedicated spin bowling coach.
This is the original video of Virat Kohli at Columbo. The viral video getting circulated is FAKE#ViratKohli #INDvSLpic.twitter.com/2vodKt3cAw
— Mr Tajamul (@Tajamul1320) July 31, 2024
If Bahutule retains his position, the coaching lineup would feature two assistant coaches (Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate), a bowling coach (Morne Morkel), a fielding coach (T Dilip), and a spin bowling coach, alongside head coach Gautam Gambhir. This would bring the total to six coaches, potentially raising concerns about an overly large coaching staff.
(With IANS Inputs)