Team India begins practice in Chennai for first Test against Bangladesh

CHENNAI: It is back to business for Rohit Sharma's side following its much-deserved month-long break, as the team began its preparations in right earnest under new coach Gautam Gambhir here on Friday, for the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh.

With the first Test against Bangladesh scheduled here from September 19, the entire squad, including Rohit and batting stalwart Virat Kohli, assembled at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with new bowling coach, South African great Morne Morkel, and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar also in attendance.

BCCI posted images of the first day of practice and wrote, "The countdown starts as Team India begin their preps for an exciting home season."

The images showed the entire squad listening attentively to Gambhir, his support staff and skipper Rohit.

Earlier, India skipper Rohit arrived in Chennai on Thursday, while Virat flew in directly from London for the opening Test.

Wearing a yellow jersey, Rohit was seen emerging from the airport escorted by security personnel, in a PTI Video on Thursday night, while Kohli came from London in an early-morning flight.

The likes of India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had earlier reached the city on Thursday.

The players are returning to the field after a much-needed break of more than a month and would look to put behind the disappointment of losing the ODI series against Sri Lanka in August and get back to winning ways quickly under Gambhir.

This will be India's first Test under Gambhir and his new support staff, and it would be interesting to see how Rohit's side approaches the game against a Bangladesh side, which is riding a wave following their 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan.

Vital World Test Championship (WTC) points are at stake in the two-match series as India get ready for a a gruelling 10-match Test season, which also includes a three-Test series at home against New Zealand and the five-match Border-Gavaskar series later this year in Australia.

India are currently heading the table with 68.52 percentage points, while Australia are a close second with 62.50 percentage points.

Bangladesh have jumped to fourth spot with 45.83 percentage points following their 10-wicket win against Pakistan in the opening Test and their amazing fight-back in the second Test where wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das scored a century to singlehandedly guide the side to a series triumph.

The second Test of the India-Bangladesh series will be played in Kanpur from September 27.