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Rohit Sharma gets throwdowns from Virat Kohli to prepare for New Zealand in Southampton

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 6/19/2021 12:40:56 PM

Southampton, June 18 India captain Virat Kohli donned a new hat on Thursday as he helped teammate Rohit Sharma practice in the nets ahead of their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final match against New Zealand in Southampton. Kohli was seen giving throwdowns in the practice nets to opening batsman Rohit, who will be the first to face the famed New Zealand bowling attack at the Rose Bowl from Friday. The experienced duo were also seen having a long discussion in between the throwdowns. Rohit has been in outstanding form throughout India's WTC campaign but has only played the single Test in England in 2014 in which he scored just 34 runs. The Hitman is India's second highest scorer in the championship with 1030 runs from 11 Tests at an average of 64.37 which also includes 4 hundreds. Rohit and fellow opener Shubman Gill will be key for India whenever they face the Kiwi new-ball attack. Former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly also highlighted the importance of the openers in India's bid to clinch the inaugural World Test Championship. But the news from Southampton has been disappointing as bad weather and persistent rain continues to play spoilsport in the title clash. Rain delayed the toss and then wiped out the entire first session of play in Southampton. "The toss has been delayed and there will be no play in the opening session," the governing International Cricket Council (ICC) tweeted. It started raining in Southampton on Thursday afternoon and Friday's coin toss could not take place because of the drizzle which ensured the square remained under cover.