With India facing off against New Zealand in the second match of their three-match Test series in Pune, commentators took a moment to reflect on the training practices in the current Indian squad, as well as those of former players in the past.

With a discussion that originally began with an explanation of Virat Kohli’s spell in net sessions, his former teammate for India and Royal Challengers Bangalore Dinesh Karthik as well as former coach Ravi Shastri explained how focused the India batter is.

As per the pair, Kohli would have one segment against net bowlers, and a different session against India’s backroom staff of slingers, coaches and experts who use bowling arms to replicate bounce and movement.

Shastri then went on to speak about how different Kohli’s approach was to another India great, in the form of Sachin Tendulkar.

‘Ants in his pants…’

Speaking about how Tendulkar used to behave during practice sessions when they were teammates, Shastri said on commentary for JioCinema: “Sachin Tendulkar, in his younger days, had ants in his pants.”

Continuing to express what he meant by that expression, Shastri said “Every time he got done with his batting in the nets, he would either grab the ball and bowl or do fielding drills. You just couldn’t keep him quiet.”

Shastri, another Mumbai legend, played alongside Tendulkar at the outset of the Little Master’s career, and would later return to the Indian setup where he would be the coach during Virat Kohli’s tenure as captain of the team.

While Kohli is often a fiery and outspoken figure on the cricket pitch, his approach to training and working on his game is famously regimented and structured, which might indicate the difference in his approach as compared to Tendulkar.

Despite the differences in the way they approached net sessions and training before a game, the immense success the pair have achieved playing for India cannot be questioned.

Kohli will play an important role as India try to bounce back after the opening match loss against New Zealand in Bangalore, and will return to the number four position he and Tendulkar have occupied with such distinction.

The Kiwis currently sit at 201-5 at tea on day one, with two quick wickets at the end of the session by Washington Sundar setting up a crucial end to the opening day of the match.

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