Kohli and Gill were almost swarmed, while Rohit and Pant faced rude remarks from hecklers in Adelaide.
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The BCCI has decided to cancel open practice sessions for the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after things got a little out of hand in Adelaide. During India’s second practice session for the day-night Test against Australia, it turned into a media-only event because players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant were "heckled" by the crowd.
Around 3,000 fans showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of the Indian team training with the pink ball before the big second Test coming up on Friday. Normally, practice sessions before international matches are closed to the public, but they made an exception this time for the locals.
While having a crowd was fun and added some energy to the four-hour-long practice, some fans made it tough for the players to concentrate. A source close to the situation mentioned that the cricketers were distracted by comments from the crowd and non-stop selfie requests.
Due to this, the BCCI has decided that future training sessions will no longer be open to the public. However, the media can still come to watch the players practice. "The players were heckled during the open session, and the selfie requests were overwhelming, making it really hard for them to get ready for the series. It could have been handled better," the source said.
Kohli, Rohit, and Pant are having a difficult time.
According to PTI, Indian cricketers had to deal with some rude comments from fans during their training session.
A senior BCCI official, who wanted to stay anonymous, described it as “complete chaos.” He said, “During the Australian training session, only about 70 people showed up, but when India practiced, around 3,000 fans came out. Nobody expected that many people.”
He also mentioned that a fans’ day in Sydney before the fifth Test was called off because the players were disturbed by the insensitive remarks.
One witness noted that fans were pushing Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant to hit sixes and even made comments about another player's fitness. “Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill could have been mobbed with that many people around. Some fans were doing Facebook Live while the batters were getting ready,” he said. “One fan kept asking a player to say ‘hi’ to him in Gujarati, and another player was body-shamed.”
The day-night Test is set to take place in Adelaide, followed by matches in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
KL Rahul talked about the experience, saying, “It was a whole different vibe. We’ve practiced in front of crowds before, but it’s usually for T20s or ODIs back home. This was something else and really helped us prep for the Test match. It gave us a taste of what to expect on Day 1 and throughout the five days.”
What went down at India’s practice on Wednesday?
India had a practice session for about two and a half hours on Wednesday, and Shubman Gill stole the spotlight again. He looked pretty comfortable batting against both pace and seam bowlers. It seems almost certain that he’ll be back in the playing XI for the day-night Test after missing the opener in Perth due to a hairline fracture in his left thumb.
Captain Rohit Sharma is also set to return. He missed the Perth match because of the birth of his second child and joined the team midway through that Test. There’s a good chance Rohit might not open the batting in Adelaide. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal did an amazing job in Perth, especially in the second innings, which helped India secure the win. Rohit spent quite a bit of time batting against spinners on Wednesday, hinting that he might be looking to bat at No. 5 or No. 6 in Adelaide.
India won the Perth Test by a whopping 295 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, but it's important to note that Australia has never lost a day-night Test in Adelaide.
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