India Vs New Zealand: Virat Kohli skips optional practice ahead of series decider

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Kanpur, Oct 28: Captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya were among the five Indian team members who skipped the optional practice session ahead of the series decider against New Zealand here tomorrow.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who played in Pune in place of Kuldeep Yadav, too, did not take part in the afternoon session.

It remains to be seen whether Kohli goes with the same playing XI that played on Wednesday or bring in Yadav in front of his home crowd. The chinaman had a lengthy spell in the nets and so did leggie Yuzvendra Chahal.

Among the batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan went through a long session as he batted in the nets before practising the pull shots off fast full-tosses on the outfield.

India had their nets at the centre square while New Zealand had them placed on the boundary wickets. Compared to the hosts, the visitors underwent a much longer session in the morning that went beyond three hours.

Both teams hit the nets for the first time since arriving on Thursday. After the practice, New Zealand pacer Tim Southee said the mood in the team was upbeat ahead of the pressure game.

"There was an air of excitement around the guys today at training. Obviously, we felt freshened up after the day off yesterday. The series is on the line tomorrow. That's what we play for and like I said, good sides have come here and walked away empty handed.

"It'll be nice to I guess to seal the series here. But India are a tough team in their own conditions as they have shown that for a while," said the senior Kiwi pacer.