"Hardik's Intense 40-Minute Bowling Drill Revealed!"

Hardik's intense 40-minute bowling drill; Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid's T20WC intentions outlined in 1st training session

In the absence of Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya took center stage during India's practice session in New York.

Team India had their first practice sessions for the T20 World Cup on Thursday at Cantiague Park in New York ahead of their warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. While the Indian team was without Virat Kohli, who has not yet joined, the focus was entirely on Hardik Pandya, who had an intense bowling session for almost an hour.

Hardik Pandya took centre stage in India's first training session for T20 World Cup

Virat Kohli, who reportedly extended his break after IPL 2024, has not confirmed his availability for the warm-up game against Bangladesh. The former India captain left for New York from Mumbai on late Thursday evening, leaving fans and pundits in suspense about his participation.

In the absence of Kohli, Hardik Pandya took center stage during India's practice session in New York. The all-rounder, known for his versatile skills, bowled for nearly 40 minutes at the nets. This display of his abilities, which had been a topic of discussion during IPL 2024, reassured fans about his potential contributions to the team.

According to Star Sports, Hardik also spent considerable time batting in the nets and had a long chat with batting coach Vikram Rathour.

The MI skipper had a forgettable IPL 2024 season where he scored just 216 runs in 14 matches while picking 11 wickets at an economy rate of well over 10.

India's T20 World Cup intentions outlined

Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav led the batting practice for India as they faced Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj. But the main attraction of the batting session for India was that Arshdeep Singh and Siraj were the first two players sent to bat at the nets, showing that head coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit want the team to have a strong tail-end line-up.

Meanwhile, the other all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube also focused on their skills, while Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, and Rinku Singh had a light training session as they were still recovering from jet lag.

India will start their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 in New York against Ireland before taking on arch-rivals Pakistan in a big match at the same venue.