Team India Stars To Assemble In Guwahati On September 28 To Begin World Cup Preparations, Confirms Rahul Dravid

Team India players are set to assemble in Guwahati on Thursday (September 28) to get their World Cup preparations underway, head coach Rahul Dravid revealed after the third and final ODI against Australia.

All the players selected for the marquee event were due to assemble in Rajkot for the third ODI against Australia on Wednesday (September 27). However, a number of players failed to join the team in Rajkot due to several reasons.

Captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, and Hardik Pandya were rested for the first two ODIs and were due to join the team ahead of the third ODI. But while Rohit, Kohli, and Kuldeep joined the team, Hardik could not due to personal reasons. On the other hand, Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur were also not available in Rajkot after they were rested for the final ODI.

Team India to assemble in Guwahati:

The squad will finally assemble in Guwahati for the first of the warm-up fixtures against England. Speaking after the third ODI against Australia, head coach Rahul Dravid said:

“We’ve had a few issues with viral (fever) going around the group. It was a balancing act in this game, because of people going home for personal reasons, and a team leaving for the Asian Games tonight, so some guys like Rutu and Tilak had to join that team.

“I’m expecting everybody to be there at Guwahati by 28th night or 29th early morning, and hopefully the bug going around the ground has cleared up as well,” he added.

Before launching their World Cup against Australia on October 8, Team India is scheduled to play two warm-up games. The first warm-up fixture will take place against England in Guwahati on September 30. The second one is against the Netherlands on October 3 in Thiruvananthapuram.

India’s fixtures in World Cup 2023:

October 8: India v Australia, Chennai, 2 pm
October 11: India v Afghanistan, New Delhi, 2 pm
October 14: India v Pakistan, Ahmedabad, 2 pm
October 19: India v Bangladesh, Pune, 2 pm
October 22: India v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 2 pm
October 29: India v England, Lucknow, 2 pm
November 2: India v Sri Lanka, Mumbai, 2 pm
November 5: India v South Africa, Kolkata, 2 pm
November 11: India v Netherlands, Bengaluru, 2 pm

(All of India’s matches will be Day-Night games, beginning at 2 pm local time.)