Having warmed up with the rest of the team, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya continued to work on strengthening his back on Saturday as he underwent an extended session of fitness drills under the watchful eyes of physio Nitin Patel and assistant strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai.
And in a positive development, he bowled at the nets once again as the team management is hoping to have his services with the ball at the earliest in the T20 World Cup.
Earlier, even as the rest of the players went back to fine-tuning their skills at the nets, Hardik continued to do strengthening exercises. India would love to have his services with the ball going into the must-win game against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Talking to the media on the eve of the game against New Zealand, skipper Virat Kohli said the all-rounder's shoulder is fine when asked about his fitness status. "Hardik is fine, if you're talking about the blow on the shoulder, he's absolutely fine," he said.
Kohli has also backed his bowlers to do well in the game against the Kiwis and refused to single out any bowler for the failure against Pakistan.
"I don't want to single out any individuals. I think as a bowling group we failed to pick up wickets. And we understand that can happen in the sport. It's not a guarantee that every time you take the field you won't be able to pick up wickets. These are the same guys that have been doing the job for us for a long period of time. We understand how things went and where they went wrong.
"And we totally accept and know that we got outplayed by the opposition thoroughly and you need to accept that. You need to accept that as a professional cricket team, without any ego, without any excuses whatsoever. We have given none. And we will not give any excuses moving forward either. And hence I'm saying I'll not single out individuals. We lost as a team, and that's exactly what we believe in and that exactly was the case in the previous game," Kohli said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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