Sports

IND vs SA: Crowd at Barabati Stadium Go Carazy as Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya Smash Colossal Sixes at Training Session – WATCH

June 12, 2022
Bharat Times

The cricket fans in Cuttack gathered at the Barabati Stadium in huge numbers to witness the practice session ahead of the 2nd T20I between India and South Africa. Usually, the stands are empty on training days but what the players of both teams witnessed on Saturday was simply mesmerising.

One of the sections of the venue was opened for the crowd and people flocked in to have a glimpse of their favourite cricketers. Stand-in captain Rishabh Pant, vice-captain Hardik Pandya and young pacer Umran Malik were among the players practising.

As the skipper and his deputy began the power-hitting session, the crowd couldn’t resist cheering for the duo. Acknowledging the presence of the fans, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the video of the moment and wrote, “Some cracking hits from the Captain and Vice-captain get the crowd going.”

The board also shared a few pictures on social media and wrote, “Match Day feels on a non-match day. A packed stadium here in Cuttack to watch #TeamIndia train. #INDvSA.”

India’s unbeaten streak in the T20Is came to an unfortunate end after they lost to South Africa by 7 wickets in Delhi. In pursuit of 212, South Africa had some early hiccups as they were reduced to 81/3 in the 9th over. But David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen came in for the rescue, stitching an unbeaten and match-winning partnership of 131 runs for the fourth wicket.

However, the series is pretty much alive with four games to go. As Pant & Co gear up for the second encounter on Sunday, senior pace Bhuvneshwar Kumar said the bowling unit hopes to improve, bowl well and level the series.

“There wasn’t any big discussion as anyone can have an off day. As a bowling unit, we had an off day but that’s okay we just want to come back in the next match. It was the first match of the series and everybody was coming out of the IPL, almost everyone in the team had a good IPL. Everyone knows what needs to be done and things to improve on,” Bhuvneshwar said at the pre-match press conference.

“We are aware that we didn’t bowl well in the first match. So we hope to improve, bowl well and level the series. We still have four matches to go, we have matches in hands to bounce back,” he added.

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