The 14-member Indian squad reached Australia on October 7 for the highly-anticipated T20 World Cup 2022. The players are assigned to stay in the city of Perth for the first week and have started their preparations without any delay ahead of the all-important ICC tournament.
In the meantime, India recently featured in an unofficial warm-up match against Western Australia at the renowned Australian venue namely WACA. Despite a below-average outing from the batting line-up, Men In Blue came out victorious in the enthralling game, following a top-class bowling performance.
The non-participation of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and KL Rahul certainly managed to surprise the Indian fans. Kohli and Rahul are prominent members of the Indian batting line-up, hence the fans expected them to play in order to get quality game time under their belt ahead of the crucial ICC event.
Ravi Ashwin’s witty reply to the reporter’s controversial question about Virat Kohli:
Ravichandran Ashwin managed to grab some eyeballs with his witty response to a reporter’s controversial question. The incident happened during Ashwin’s recent press interaction, in which the reporter asked him about the non-participation of Virat Kohli in the warm-up match.
Ashwin mentioned the Indian head coach during answering the question on a comical note. The all-rounder further stated that he does not have any idea regarding the same. The 36-year-old also talked about the importance of the marquee ICC event and the Indian team’s mindset heading into the tournament.
“I wish I could walk into Rahul Dravid’s shoes one day and answer that question, but as of now, your guess is as good as mine,” said Ashwin during a media interaction.
“Two weeks to go before the T20 World Cup. It is a marquee event and we are taking it as seriously as we can. We are here to acclimatize because we have never been to Australia during this time.” Ashwin further added.
Twitter reactions:
Virat Kohli serving drinks to players during drinks break in IND vs WAXI warm up game. pic.twitter.com/Legr7roRIS
— Dr. Cric Point 🏏 (@drcricpoint) October 11, 2022
Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravi Ashwin not playing today's practice match.
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) October 10, 2022
#T20WC2022
King kohli decided to meet his fans instead of playing warm up match against Western Australia.Simplicity level👑 pic.twitter.com/Hd9pRViGaD
— GOPAL JIVANI (@Haa_Haa_Medico) October 10, 2022
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul practicing after the warm-up match.#ViratKohli | #KLRahul | #T20WorldCuppic.twitter.com/IgNRWB8m8p
— Virat Kohli Fan Club (@Trend_VKohli) October 10, 2022
Virat Kohli having a practice hit in the middle of the WACA immediately after the match. One would assume he will play in Thursday’s warm-up after missing today pic.twitter.com/H6nLq9iotG
— Tristan Lavalette (@trislavalette) October 10, 2022