Gill, Rahul bat at Eden Park as Rohit, Kohli skip outdoor nets

Shubman Gill and KL Rahul were the only designated batters at India’s outdoor session at Eden Park in Auckland on Monday, 2 November. Virat Kohli chose a gym session, while Rohit Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad worked indoors. The first ODI against New Zealand is on Wednesday, 4 November, at 7:30 AM IST.

Gill trained after skipping Sunday’s practice session. India’s team management rested the bowling attack after heavy workloads on Sunday, Outlook India reports.

Monday at Eden Park

Rahul took throwdowns behind the stumps for close to 15 minutes, then batted alongside Gill before heading inside. Gill stayed on to bat after Rahul left, did fielding drills that included slip catches and high balls, and finished with a massage for his neck.

Kohli and Rohit had both practised at Eden Park on Sunday. India have one final training session on Tuesday afternoon before the first ODI.

Who leads when

The BCCI announced the split with the squads: Gill captains India in the first three ODIs with Shreyas Iyer as vice-captain, and Iyer captains the fourth and fifth ODIs, on 13 and 15 November.

Gill and Rahul will leave the ODI leg early to prepare for the two-Test series that starts on 19 November, with the first Test in Wellington.

India come into the five-match ODI series, which runs from 4 to 15 November, after a 3-2 win in the T20I series. They won the first three matches, then lost by 87 runs on 30 October and by 7 wickets on 1 November.

Pujara’s view

Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara said on JioHotstar that Kohli has a slightly better chance of a hundred in New Zealand than Rohit, because Kohli bats at number three. He also predicted a 2-2 series result, giving New Zealand a slight advantage because India field different squads in the first three and last two matches.