India head coach Rahul Dravid joined the players as the Indian cricket team extended their historic Centurion Test-winning celebrations at the team hotel on Saturday and welcomed the New Year 2022 in style. The Indian team celebrated the New Year with a cake as well. (More Cricket News)
India captain Virat Kohli, Dravid and other members of the support staff joined the celebrations as seen in a group picture that was shared by Ravichandran Ashwin on social media. Clad in shirt and jeans, Dravid was seen in the front row.
Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, vice-captain KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj and Rishabh Pant were also seen posing for the picture. India began their South Africa tour with a 113-run win in the first of the three-Test series. India also became the first Asian side to win a Test match at Centurion.
The second Test match begins from January 3 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, the BCCI announced an 18-member squad on Friday for the ODI series against South Africa. ODI skipper, Rohit Sharma, who missed the Tests due to an injury, will miss the limited-overs series too as he is yet to recover fully.
KL Rahul will lead the side in Rohit’s absence with Jasprit Bumrah his deputy. Rohit is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru along with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Other notable players who have missed the squad are all-rounder Axar Patel and senior pacer Shami.
The Indian selectors have recalled veteran opener, Shikhar Dhawan while young turks, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer have been rewarded for their stellar shows in the domestic circuit.
