The temperature refused to drop beneath 40 levels Celsius as Rohit Sharma checked in for nationwide obligation for the primary time in 5 months on the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.
The primary ball from Nitish Kumar Reddy nipped again with some warmth, hitting Rohit flush on the entrance pad. Circumstances can be distinctly cooler when the 39-year-old marks a middle-stump guard once more in two days, on the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala throughout the first ODI in opposition to Afghanistan.
There was no discernible lethargy in footwork, and no signal of the dodgy hamstring that precipitated concern throughout the current IPL season.
Just a few of his teammates had already braved the Chandigarh warmth over the weekend throughout the one-off Check in opposition to Afghanistan on the new PCA Stadium. Returning to motion after receiving the health clearance from BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, Rohit’s first hit stood in sharp distinction. Whereas the opposite top-order batters unlocked full gung-ho mode within the optionally available session, Rohit exercised restraint throughout an hour-long stint.
Minimal large hits from Rohit throughout the session, in contrast to Shreyas, Kishan and Jaiswal who’ve given it an actual whack. An hour of batting for each Ro and Iyer. #INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/cf4cqjvEvX
— Lalith Kalidas (@lal__kal) June 10, 2026
Thirty minutes after he went by way of a light-weight dash shuttle alongside Ishan Kishan, who’s returning to the 50-over fold after three years, Rohit watched on as vice-captain Shreyas Iyer padded up first for a centre-wicket hit.
On what was alleged to be the ultimate day of the Check — which Shubman Gill’s males wrapped up in two-and-a-half days in Mullanpur — 15 kilometres away – 9 of India’s 14 squad members confirmed up for a light-weight coaching session.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya won’t hyperlink up with the group for the collection after struggling a late jolt in his street to restoration on the CoE. 5 of India’s Check stars – skipper Gill, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav – gave the session a miss. So did head coach Gautam Gambhir.
It meant that every one eyes on the sparsely-attended session had been skilled on Rohit, his trimmed drives, play-and-misses, late leaves and watchful dabs beneath the eyeline.
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Whilst Iyer, Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal focused the bowlers with a collection of big hits, Rohit utilized a distinct color to his session on the primary strip, which he shared with Iyer. India’s younger seam assault – that includes Arshdeep Singh, Nitish and recent call-ups Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav – had their moments in opposition to the previous captain.
Resolute
Arshdeep’s left-arm angle and Prince’s exterior off-stump deliveries examined Rohit early within the session. Regardless of just a few edgy drives and miscued flicks, Rohit remained agency in line of the stumps, unruffled by the seamers thereafter.
Gurnoor, the 6-ft-5-in seamer who has bolted into the Check and ODI set-up in current weeks, hurried him on a few events. Regardless of having performed solely six Checklist A video games within the 5 years since his debut, Brar’s shorter lengths probed each Rohit and Iyer. Whereas Rohit failed to attach his trademark pull twice, Iyer was snuffed out with a pointy bouncer, the ball ballooning straight up in direction of an imaginary brief leg.
Shifting to an adjoining web to face a few native spin bowlers and left-arm tweaker Harsh Dubey, who’s in line for a debut throughout this collection, Rohit closed out his session having regained some smoothness. Two sixes soared in direction of the sight-screen, with negligible muscle, earlier than the curtain was drawn.
Rohit Sharma returns for nationwide duties. India start their optionally available coaching session on the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.#INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/E3bbVS7qVh
— Lalith Kalidas (@lal__kal) June 10, 2026
The environment round Rohit was removed from serene as Iyer and Kishan, nonetheless recent from their ballistic IPL seasons, smeared the boundaries with a trunk of maximums. Whereas Ishan was notably aggressive in direction of the deep mid-wicket fence, Iyer flourished with a collection of lofted extra-cover pictures off the pacers. Arriving on the heels of his T20 Mumbai League commitments, the latter appeared in excellent white-ball sync, whilst Brar and Arshdeep examined him with shorter deliveries.
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But to shed his white pads from the Check match, the left-handed Jaiswal went on the offensive from the outset. After a lacklustre IPL season and a patchy red-ball knock reduce brief by a free stroke, he did his finest to place all of that behind him, taking down the online bowlers with lofted hits down the bottom.
The night nonetheless rested on Rohit’s return, marked by an unhurried 60-minute development that drew him nearer to full-match rigours up within the mountains on Saturday.