Bumrah Is Back, Sooryavanshi Is Smashing It And Delhi Has Rain: India Gear Up For Afghanistan

International cricket in the national capital in September has been far from a comfortable set-up. The unpredictable and often humid weather takes its toll on players and spectators alike, sapping energy and disrupting play.

And when Afghanistan are playing hosts, rain interruptions are hardly a surprise. Their historic Test against New Zealand in 2024, after all, was washed out without a ball being bowled.

As the Afghans returned to Delhi to host India for a three-match T20I series, they brought the rain with them. Showers delayed Shreyas Iyer and Co.’s full-fledged training session on Friday evening at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Once the covers were taken off, however, the Kotla was taken over by the men in blue.

Bumrah Returns To Action

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was back in action as the full Indian squad assembled for a comprehensive training session. The evening began with a light warm-up before the players moved into fielding drills.

The 15 players were split into three teams of five, taking turns to hit the stumps directly in a sharp and competitive drill designed by coach Subhadeep Ghosh to sharpen their reflexes and accuracy in the field.

Batters Fine-Tune Their Blades

The batters then padded up as two separate nets were set up for the spinners and seamers. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer faced the spin attack of Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi, working on their footwork and shot selection against turn.

In the adjacent net, Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took on the pace bowlers. Later in the session, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma also had their turn in the nets, with local net bowlers from Delhi brought in to keep the intensity high.

Sooryavanshi Vs Bumrah: The Centre Of Attraction

If Bumrah gets hit in the nets, his next delivery is likely to be a bouncer. Perhaps that is why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did not go berserk against the senior pacer. The teenager middled only one of the five or six deliveries he faced, with Bumrah mixing up his attack with a yorker and a few deliveries down the leg side.

Ishan Kishan In Discomfort

There was a brief scare during the seamers’ session when Ishan Kishan attempted to duck or sway away from a rising delivery from Navdeep Saini. The wicketkeeper-batter failed to get out of the way cleanly and appeared to take an awkward blow, going down immediately and clutching his lower back.

The team physio rushed in to check on him and, after a few tense minutes of treatment, Kishan got back to his feet and walked off the ground without any visible discomfort, easing concerns over his fitness.

With the scare behind them, India will now turn their attention to fine-tuning combinations as they prepare for a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, with the matches scheduled for September 13, 15 and 17 in New Delhi.