IND vs SA: Hardik Pandya bowls during practice session ahead of India’s first T20 international against South Africa

After a good 25 minutes of full-fledged fast bowling with head coach Rahul Dravid watching nearby, he moved to the nets and bowled with Team India bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey keeping a close watch.

Hardik Pandya would hit the bed at 9.30pm and wake up at 5am, dedicating the day's intervening period of time to win battles against his "own self" and the doubting Thomases. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)

Having captained Gujarat Titans to the IPL title recently, Hardik Pandya alongside Yuzvendra Chahal, who played for Rajasthan Royals in the summit clash, had been given an extra day off ahead of the five-match T20 series opener in Delhi on Thursday.

But once he stepped onto the field at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Pandya began by jogging around the ground. He then started a sprint drill.

Pandya first bowled in tandem with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and later all by himself at the side wicket. After a good 25 minutes of full-fledged fast bowling with head coach Rahul Dravid watching nearby, he moved to the nets and bowled with Team India bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey keeping a close watch.

#INDvSA #INDvsSA

In a press conference, #RahulDravid said he hadn’t gotten much time to chat with #HardikPandya who has joined the team training today having gotten an extra day off for the IPL Final. They caught up in the nets later https://t.co/hS6G6yskUy pic.twitter.com/Jtf3NAb2kA

— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) June 7, 2022

In the press conference ahead of the practice session, Rahul Dravid had said that he hadn’t gotten time to chat with Hardik Pandya in the buildup to the game because those who played in the IPL final had got an extra day off.

“His leadership was very impressive,” Dravid had said about Hardik earlier in the day.

“You don’t have to be designated as a leader to be a leader. From our perspective, it is good to have him back bowling. For us, it’s about getting the best out of him as a cricketer.”

#INDvSA #INDvsSA #ShreyasIyer rolls his arm over at the #TeamIndia net session!https://t.co/hS6G6yskUy pic.twitter.com/p7rXuKBjxk

— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) June 7, 2022

Afterwards, Pandya had a bat in the nets.

Meanwhile, at the side wicket on the ground, Shreyas Iyer also had a long training session. The KKR captain, who had a forgettable IPL season, started with off drives and lofted hits down the ground against throw downs. He then switched to working on his pull shots with some close-up throw downs.

Iyer bowls leg-breaks

Later in the evening, under the lights, Shreyas Iyer also bowled leg-breaks.

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The two new members of India’s pace brigade for the series, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh were also seen bowling. The head coach had spoken about Malik in the press conference.

“Brilliant in terms of watching Umran in the nets, you can see that he has got that pace. He is learning. We need to see how much time we can give him. I’m certainly someone who likes to give players consistency. Arshdeep is another exciting guy who’s brilliant as well,” Dravid said in the press conference on Tuesday.

ALSO READ | Hardik Pandya’s leadership was very impressive in IPL 2022: Rahul Dravid

Having missed the optional training session on Monday, medium pacer Harshal Patel trained with the team on Tuesday.

India captain KL Rahul, who had trained on the first day skipped the optional session on Day Two.

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The first T20I between India and South Africa will be played under the lights on Thursday.

Rahul Pandey

Rahul Pandey is Senior Sub Editor on the Sports Desk of The Indian Express. Based out of New Delhi, he primarily writes and talks about cricket and football. You can also find him while surfing through The Indian Express YouTube channel, where he hosts the video offerings from the sports team. Working with the online team on the daily developments in world sports, Rahul holds a keen interest in dissecting the personalities of the game's many protagonists as well as tracking the big picture trends that affect the game. He started out as a sports radio jockey and previously worked with cricketnews.com, creating content offerings for The Bharat Army, Betway and LiveScore. His passion for sports was kindled by his father's tales of tuning in to radio for keeping tabs on India's Test cricket tours as well and FIFA World Cup finals. ... Read More

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