He flicks, pulls and goes on the show as Rohit Sharma hits the net; India are gearing up for the ODI series against Afghanistan

TimesofIndia.com in Mohali: A day after receiving the green signal from the Center of Excellence (CoE), Rohit Sharma looked in good touch during India’s optional practice session at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.Rohit Sharma was the first to alight from the team bus and security officials and Punjab Police personnel pulled out their phones as the former India captain was flooded with selfie requests. He obliged a few before heading straight to the pavilion. The 39-year-old began with a light jog alongside his former Mumbai Indians partner Ishan Kishan before going out to bat in the open nets.Rohit looked a little rusty early on when Nitish Kumar Reddy hit him in the pads. But as the sun began to set, the right-handed batter looked great. Moves, moves, cuts and drives were on display. None of the pacers, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar or Prince Sharma, could trouble him.Rohit shared the fast bowling nets with Shreyas Iyer, with the two batsmen exchanging ends after each over. In the side nets, Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal ran amok against the spinners.After a good 45th minute against the quicks, Rohit Sharma along with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak participated in the discussions. He then moved to the nets where he faced left-armer Harsh Dubey and the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) net bowlers. One thing that was missing from Rohit’s bat was that he never charged down the track either against the spinners or the fast bowlers. He finished the session by making some high catches with coach T Dilip.India’s new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer also looked good. The shock batsman, fresh from playing for SoBo Mumbai Falcons in the Mumbai T20 League, looked hardly distressed. He was tested with short pitch deliveries from Gurnoor Brar.Apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal, those who played in the one-off Test against Afghanistan at New Mullanpur have opted out of training. Notable absentees were captain Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar.India won the Test match by an innings and 300 runs. The first ODI of the three-match series will be played in Dharamshala on Saturday (June 13), followed by matches in Lucknow on June 17 and Chennai on June 20.