Virat Kohli Frustrated In Nets, Troubled By Rookie India Pacer Ahead Of 1st ODI: Report

As India's T20I series against New Zealand nears its conclusion, the focus gradually shifts towards the ODIs, which will witness stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, etc. in action. As Kohli, Rohit and others hit the nets on Sunday morning, some intriguing stories unfolded. While Shubman Gill was among those absent from the session, all eyes naturally gravitated towards the Kohli-Rohit duo as they took on a spirited panel of fast bowlers deployed to simulate local conditions.

If the net session was designed to test the senior batters, young fast bowlers Auqib Nabi, Anshul Kamboj, and Gurnoor Brar ended up stealing the spotlight. Gurnoor used his height to extract steep bounce from the pitch, forcing the batters to stay sharp against the short ball, while Kamboj kept a disciplined line. However, it was Nabi, fresh off an impressive showing in the first unofficial Test for India A in Lincoln, who posed the toughest questions, especially against Virat Kohli. Nabi was added to the India team for the ODI series against New Zealand as a replacement for injured Prasidh Krishna.

According to a report in RevSportz, Nabi repeatedly beat the outside edge and troubled the experienced batters with sharp movement both ways, proving his recent form is no fluke. For Kohli, the afternoon proved to be a mixed bag of sheer brilliance and hard toil. There were moments where he played some impressive shots with supreme timing, but Nabi in particular troubled him a lot.

Kohli Frustrated By Kohli

The pacer struck Kohli on the pads and thigh pads with sharp in-dippers while constantly testing him with away-swingers. The situation was such that Kohli even looked irritated with the fact that he was getting beaten by Nabi multiple times. However, as Kohli is, he quickly brushed off the tough spells and was soon back in high spirits, sharing light-hearted banter and strong camaraderie with Rohit on the sidelines.

It was a similarly cautious outing for the rest of the batting group. Rohit chose a measured approach rather than going for outright aggression, blending tight defence with occasional strokeplay as he adjusted to the pace off the surface.

KL Rahul joined the session later to get some practice under his belt, while Ruturaj Gaikwad also spent time facing the lively pacers. With only three days to go for the first ODI, this rigorous workout served as an ideal reality check for the batters, which will help them understand the nature of the surface and prepare accordingly.

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