Captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya were among the five Indian team members who skipped the optional practice session ahead of the series decider against New Zealand here tomorrow. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who played in Pune in place of Kuldeep Yadav, too, did not take part in the afternoon session. It remains to be seen whether Kohli goes with the same playing XI that played on Wednesday or bring in Yadav in front of his home crowd. The chinaman had a zengthy spell in the nets and so did leggie Yuzvendra Chahal. Among the batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan went through a long session as he batted in the nets before practising the pull shots off fast full-tosses on the outfield.

Virat Kohli