It was back to cricket training for India captain Virat Kohli after his wedding with Anushka Sharma recently. Kohli and the Indian team trained in Cape Town ahead of their first Test against South Africa from January 5, 2018.
Kohli, who skipped the limited-overs series at home against Sri Lanka, was quickly back to middling the ball in the "nets".
He got married on December 11 in Italy and hosted two receptions in Delhi and Mumbai.
It will only be training sessions for India as they head into the opening Test without any warm-up matches. The only practice game which was scheduled was cancelled by India as they opted for "nets".
The new year poses a big challenge for Kohli and his men as they will play Tests abroad. They enjoyed a highly successful 2017 at home, dominating teams in Tests and limited-overs formats.
On Saturday (December 30), the official Twitter page of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a brief video of Kohli's batting practice. It was captioned, "Getting into the groove is #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli."
Getting into the groove is #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/ybNqEWVKRm
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2017
It also tweeted a picture of batsman Cheteshwar Pujara making his way to the ground flashing thumbs-up sign. ".@cheteshwar1 all set to hit the nets #TeamIndia," BCCI's Twitter handle wrote with Pujara's photo.
.@cheteshwar1 all set to hit the nets #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/1oFm5qHIfL
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2017
India have never won a Test series in South Africa and many experts have backed Kohli's men to create history in the three-match rubber.
Sample that for a setting to set the ball rolling #TeamIndia are here in Cape Town to begin preparations for the 1st Test against SA pic.twitter.com/PFJR0NuQQe
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2017
Meanwhile, there were reports that left-hand opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan could miss the opening Test due to injury.
