India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has begun outdoor training after missing more than 3 months of competitive action due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Ishant Sharma has begun outdoor training (Reuters Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Ishant Sharma has begun outdoor training after 3 months of being out of action
- Ishant said he is training while maintaining social distancing at an outdoor facility
- Earlier this month, Cheteshwar Pujara began outdoor training with Saurashtra teammates
India fast bowler Ishant Sharma is the latest cricketer to begin outdoor training after more than 3 months of inactivity due to the enforced break due to novel coronavirus pandemic.
Ishant Sharma took to social media to share a clip of him training at an outdoor facility on a bright sunny day. Ishant can be seen sporting India’s official training shirt as he does some fitness drills.
“Engaging myself with positivity and practicing while maintaining social distancing,” Ishant wrote as caption while getting a nod of approval from India teammate Suresh Raina.
Ishant Sharma, who was nominated last month for the Arjuna Award, last played for India during their tour of New Zealand in February. The India pacer played only 1 Test as a recurrence of an ankle injury forced him to sit out of the 2nd Test as India were whitewashed 2-0 by Kane Williamson’s men.
India cricketers, unlike their England, Sri Lanka and West Indies counterparts, are yet to attend a training camp as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in no hurry to organise one in the wake of the growing concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic.
India’s tour of Sri Lanka in June and Zimbabwe in August have been called off due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara also began outdoor training earlier this week. The India No. 3 trained with his Saurashtra teammates Jaydev Unadkat, Arpit Vasavada and medium pacer Prerak Mankad at his academy in the outskirts of Rajkot.
Speaking to the PTI news agency, Aprit Vasavada, who played a key role in Saurashtra Ranji Trophy campaign, said Pujara and the rest of the group have been training for over 10 days and are slowly beginning to increase their intensity.
“It has been close to 10 days now. Though we were working on our fitness during the lockdown, there is no substitute to hitting the nets and it feels great. We are following all the government guidelines while practising,” Vasavada said.
“JD bhai (Unadkat) also joined us recently and is gradually increasing his time in the nets just like all of us. He is bowling without using saliva on the ball (recently banned by the ICC).
“As for us (Pujara and I), we started with batting sessions of 10-15 minutes and plan to increase the intensity gradually. We have also some net bowlers who are based out of Rajkot.”
