Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (Photo AFP) NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma seemed unfazed by the growing chatter about their future and instead focused on a tough clean session under lights ahead of India’s second ODI against South Africa on Wednesday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!Speculation about what lies ahead for the senior duo has intensified, especially with a trip to the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup now part of the discussion.
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But fresh from back-to-back match-winning performances against Australia and South Africa, neither Kohli nor Rohit showed any signs of letting up during practice on Tuesday.Kohli looked sharp and assertive as he took on specialist bowlers Raghu (right arm) and Nuwan Seneviratne (left arm) who upped the tempo throughout the session. The battle was compelling to watch – Kohli repeatedly finding the middle of the bat, though there were times when Raghu’s peculiar pace got the better of him.Head coach Gautam Gambhir stood between the two nets and watched the match closely. As Kohli wrapped up the bat, he placed both bats on his shoulders and walked past Gambhir without a word – a moment that will not go unnoticed considering the recent narrative of Indian cricket.Rohit, who followed Kohli to the nets and shortly afterwards to the dressing room, stopped briefly to speak to Gambhir before heading inside.While all eyes were naturally on the two senior players, the intensity of practice remained high across the nets as India look to consolidate the series after taking a 1-0 lead with a win in Ranchi on Sunday.With the match to be played on a black surface at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, the batting line-up trained with purpose and showed aggression from the start.Yashasvi Jaiswal sent a couple of deliveries that flew over the leg boundary and even rolled his arm to bowl to Rishabh Pant – the last batsman to take his turn in the nets.
