(L to R) Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma© AFP
Former Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid was reunited with Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli during the team's net practice session at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Rohit and Co are gearing up for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand with the first match starting on Wednesday. Dravid, who was the coach during India's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, paid a surprise visit to the practice session and shared a light-hearted moment with the players. Dravid along with the players were seen having a conversation and the video has already gone viral.
Meanwhile, ahead of his side's three-match Test series against India, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead admitted that pace veteran Tim Southee indeed recognises that he has not been at his best as of late and is working hard in the background to "rediscover what is missing".
India will be hoping to continue their home domination as they take on New Zealand for a three-match Test series from October 16, starting with the first Test in Bengaluru. Southee will be heading into the series without the responsibilities of being a captain, having stepped down from the position following a big 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka away from home.
Tom Latham will lead New Zealand during the three Tests against India. Southee's run has been poor in whites this year. There is a chance he could lose his place in the playing eleven, having taken just eight wickets at an average of 73.12 in six Tests, with best figures of 2/46.
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The 35-year-old boasts of a solid record in India, having taken 20 wickets at an average of 28.70, with the best figures of 7/64 in five Tests.
Speaking ahead of the series to the media, Stead said, "From my conversations with Tim, he recognized he has not been at his best but there's certainly no desire to not get back there. He is working hard in the background, he is doing everything he can and trying to rediscover what that little thing he feels is missing. We have looked back at quite a bit of video from previous years and times he's played in India and had success. It is just trying to rediscover that and find a little bit, I guess you could call it snap back into his action," he said in the press conference.
If Southee misses the first Test, Kiwis will be heavily depleted without services of their most experienced stars, with Kane Williamson also set to miss the first Test as he has not recovered from the groin injury sustained during the Sri Lanka Tests.
(With ANI inputs)