Colombo: Team India’s young brigade is spending quality time in the gym as they prepare for the upcoming limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka. The boys are currently undergoing soft quarantine before they fly off to Colombo on June 28.Some of the youngsters who impressed in the last couple of seasons of the IPL like Devdutt Padikkal, pacer Chetan Sakaria, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been rewarded with their maiden India call-up for the limited-over series tour.
Feeling great. In the quarantine, we were trying to do as much work but it feels a lot better to be back in the gym, said Devdutt Padikkal in a video posted by BCCI. We both play for Karnataka and we know each other’s weaknesses. It’s fun training with him,”l Krishnappa Gowtham who was a training partner of Padikkal added.
Rajasthan Royals quick Chetan Sakariya said he felt good before coming into the gym. I checked myself several times in the mirror as I was wearing the Indian jersey. Excited and happy for my maiden India call-up. We are used to quarantining now, the speedster added.
Unlike Sakariya, Nitish Rana felt quarantine is a very long process. The Kolkata Knight Riders batsman said, I was waiting to meet up with the teammates and one hour in quarantine felt like one year. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Varun Chakravarthy are also happy that they can represent the country as both are ready to give their 100 per cent if given a chance.
The Indian boys are again set to undergo 3 days of hard quarantine in Colombo before training in quarantine till July 4. After that, they will be allowed to train normally before the series gets underway on July 13 in Colombo. The tour includes a 3-match ODI series and a 3-match T20I series and all matches will be played at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. The team will be led by Shikhar Dhawan with Bhuvneshwar Kumar being picked as the vice-captain.