Indian team arrives at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium for training session | WATCH

The Indian cricket team trained hard at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad to fine-tune its preparation for the first Test of the five-match series against England starting January 25 (Thursday).

The Indian players buzzed with excitement and engaged themselves in batting, bowling and fielding drills to be game-ready for Thursday as the race to finish in the top two of the World Test Championship 2023-25 points table heats up.

“When it’s almost “time” for the first Test,” BCCI captioned the video of the players training with each other.

India’s chances of finishing in the top two of the ongoing WTC cycle depend on the series against the Ben Stokes-led England side. Team India are second on the WTC points table behind Australia and a convincing win in the series against England will go a long way in helping them consolidate a lead on the ladder.

Notably, India will be without the services of former skipper Virat Kohli. Virat has been provided with a break for the first two Test matches for personal reasons and the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) is slated to announce his replacement soon.

The challenge for India is a formidable one as England have been playing an attacking brand of red-ball cricket and are in no mood to slow down.

India’s squad for the first two Tests:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Avesh Khan.

England’s squad for the Test series against India:

Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.