Anant Ambani's pre-wedding celebrations hinder Rohit Sharma from joining the Indian Test Team in Dharamsala 2 days ahead of the Test match

The Indian team led by Rohit Sharma’s captaincy and Rahul Dravid’s coaching are all set to undergo their first training session for the 5th Test at Dharamshala today. Rohit and Dravid will be heading over to Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh through a helicopter with the session set to begin from 12:30 PM onwards. The BCCI confirmed this news in a recent press release.

This will be the India team’s first net session in 9 days as all the players were given a break after the 5-wicket 4th Test win at Ranchi last week. Rohit Sharma had also attended the pre-wedding gala of Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani along with his wife Ritika Sajdeh. The Indian skipper will now hit the ground running, hoping he can score his 2nd century of the series in Dharamshala.

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England starts training at 9:30 while India begins practice from 12:30

The BCCI had confirmed the timings of both England and India’s training session at the HPCA stadium today. While the visitors will train there first from 9:30 AM onwards, the hosts will start practicing from 12:30 PM onwards. Both of them have a 3-hour session in the stadium, which is built around the magnificent Himalayan hills.

“England will train at the HPCA stadium from 9:30 AM onwards. India will train at the HPCA stadium from 12:30 PM onwards.” – BCCI said.

The practice session will specifically be important for the England team which has squandered the opportunity to claim the series after starting positively. Ben Stokes’ side had claimed a shocking 28-run win at Hyderabad through individual brilliance from man of the match Ollie Pope and then debutant off-spinner Tom Hartley.

However, from the 2nd Test onwards at Vishakhapatnam, England lost their flair as Rohit Sharma’s side learned from their mistake and came out as an improved unit. India’s comeback win by 106 runs was made possible by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden double hundred and Jasprit Bumrah’s 9 wicket haul at the ACA-VDCA stadium.

In the 3rd Test, India claimed their biggest-ever Test match victory when they defeated England by a margin of 434 runs. The Rajkot Test saw India hand debut caps to Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, both of whom impressed with their performance. Sarfaraz smacked half-centuries in both innings, Jurel made a 46-run contribution whereas Rohit Sharma scored his first Test century since July 2023.

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored another memorable double century but it was Ravindra Jadeja who claimed the man of the match for his 112 and 5-wicket haul. In the 4th Test at Ranchi, India had found themselves in a tough situation in the first two mornings but it was Dhruv Jurel who came to the rescue. He scored 90 in the 2nd innings and then scored 39 in the 4th which also included the winning runs.

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Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid to inaugurate Khel Mahakhumbh at Bilaspur

According to the Indian Express, skipper Rohit Sharma will be joined by coach Rahul Dravid when they visit Bilaspur to inaugurate the “Khel Mahakhumbh” event in Himachal. Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur is also going to be there. The 5th and series concluding Test at HPCA stadium starts on March 7.

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