ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Watch - Hardik Pandya's powerful self-talk during India's intense training in Dubai
Published - 17 Feb 2025, 12:07 PM
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The India National Cricket Team have hit the ground running as they begin their preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Rohit Sharma-led side was involved in a focused training session on Sunday (16th February) at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and others hit the nets. Support staff, including head coach Gautam Gambhir, Sitanshu Kotak, and Abhishek Nayar, were also present.
The atmosphere among the Indian players looked very joyous; players seen laughing and cracking jokes
The atmosphere among the Indian players looked very joyous as the entire team was seen laughing and cracking jokes before beginning their training. After the drills that were assigned to them, the players went about their business and were given a head start by skipper Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma can be seen telling one of the players: "Time the ball. If you beat that cover fielder, it's a boundary". The attention then turned towards Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir before Hardik Pandya was seen saying something to Ravindra Jadeja in Gujarati.
Indian players then started the fielding drills with Rohit Sharma taking the command. He was seen holding the racquet and hitting the balls in the air. One of the players, wearing a helmet, took the ball on his head, and it was caught by Virat Kohli as players burst into laughter.
India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar then was seen passing on the inputs to players, saying: "There are three nets in the centre. Post whatever you have done; if you want to do something extra work, you've got two nets out back; you can get some working there."
Following that, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma walked into the nets and warmed up, playing a few strokes. The Pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh were also seen putting in the hard yards in the nets.
Hardik, yeh bat ke neeche hai. Agar maarna hai toh maar ke ja - Hardik Pandya's message to himself after mistiming the ball
The spotlight was then taken by Hardik Pandya, who was seen giving a pep talk to himself. The all-rounder mistimed the ball and was unhappy before he told himself: "Hardik, yeh bat ke neeche hai. Agar maarna hai toh maar ke ja" (This one hit the bottom part of the bat. If you want to hit it, hit it well."
Virat Kohli, on the other hand, was seen advising Shubman Gill before Hardik Pandya passed on inputs to Washington Sundar, saying: "Slightly centre going forward,"
The session ended with Harshit Rana playing a magnificent straight six. This made even Rishabh Pant say "Shot hai" in applause. But assistant coach Abhishek Nayar was unhappy with the pacer's aggression as he asked him to keep the ball down, and Pant cheekily quipped, "Let it be."
Watch: India undergo intense training in Dubai, Hardik Pandya gives advice to himself
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