<div>Following three days of ‘nets’ at the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s ‘B’ ground, the Virat Kohli-led Indian Test squad went through centre-pitch practice here at the Alur (3) ground –– their first attempt to get some match-like feel before they depart to the West Indies for the four-match Test series on Wednesday. <br /><br />On a breezy Sunday morning, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay were first up against the pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav. Under the watchful eyes of coach Anil Kumble, the Indian players, donning whites, were quick to get into the professional mode, with skipper Kohli’s constant encouragement from the slips pushing the bowlers to come hard at the openers. <br /><br />Receiving good assistance from the surface, Ishant and Umesh mixed pace and bounce to trouble the batsmen. Dhawan, who was edgy in the beginning, struck some delightful drives on the off side. Ishant soon was rewarded for his aggression, when he cleaned up Vijay. With an intention to provide every specialist batsman a hit, each one was allowed a time of 60 minutes in the middle. <br /> <br />The 100-odd fans gathered to see their favourite players cheered the loudest when Kohli walked into bat. The in-form player was a lot cautious against the pacers but was at his attacking best when the spinners were introduced. The trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja bowled to Kohli and KL Rahul. <br />Producing reverse sweeps and coming down the track to the spinners, Kohli picked up a couple of boundaries, much to the delight of the crowd. The skipper though eventually paid the price for his aggression and was dismissed twice by Jadeja. <br /><br />Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur, the lone new face in the squad, also got an opportunity to bowl along with Varun Aaron and Stuart Binny. A bunch of young Karnataka cricketers took the field to complete the playing eleven. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Rohit Sharma also batted.</div>
<div>Following three days of ‘nets’ at the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s ‘B’ ground, the Virat Kohli-led Indian Test squad went through centre-pitch practice here at the Alur (3) ground –– their first attempt to get some match-like feel before they depart to the West Indies for the four-match Test series on Wednesday. <br /><br />On a breezy Sunday morning, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay were first up against the pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav. Under the watchful eyes of coach Anil Kumble, the Indian players, donning whites, were quick to get into the professional mode, with skipper Kohli’s constant encouragement from the slips pushing the bowlers to come hard at the openers. <br /><br />Receiving good assistance from the surface, Ishant and Umesh mixed pace and bounce to trouble the batsmen. Dhawan, who was edgy in the beginning, struck some delightful drives on the off side. Ishant soon was rewarded for his aggression, when he cleaned up Vijay. With an intention to provide every specialist batsman a hit, each one was allowed a time of 60 minutes in the middle. <br /> <br />The 100-odd fans gathered to see their favourite players cheered the loudest when Kohli walked into bat. The in-form player was a lot cautious against the pacers but was at his attacking best when the spinners were introduced. The trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja bowled to Kohli and KL Rahul. <br />Producing reverse sweeps and coming down the track to the spinners, Kohli picked up a couple of boundaries, much to the delight of the crowd. The skipper though eventually paid the price for his aggression and was dismissed twice by Jadeja. <br /><br />Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur, the lone new face in the squad, also got an opportunity to bowl along with Varun Aaron and Stuart Binny. A bunch of young Karnataka cricketers took the field to complete the playing eleven. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Rohit Sharma also batted.</div>
