Ahead of the two-match Twenty20 series against West Indies, Indian cricketers, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar today visited the home of American basketball team Miami Heats here.
On what was supposed to be a day off for the Indian cricket team, the Indian trio were hosted by Tyler Johnson and Briante Weber, the latest recruit of the Miami Heats, at their home ground -- The American Airlines Arena.
The Indian contingent was taken around the locker room, gymnasium and the recuperation center before indulging in a brief bout of play between the five of them.
Shikhar and Bhuvneshwar were chatting up with the hosts, while Ashwin seemed to have gone back to his school days of playing basketball.
"I've played a bit of Basketball during my school days so that got me really excited while I tried my hand again after so many years. I am thankful to both Weber and Johnson for taking time out and showing us around their home turf," Ashwin said.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar said: "It was great to see these guys and learn about their game. I was impressed with the facilities here and it was a learning experience for me to see the amount of technology being used in sports science."
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan said: "It was great fun. I am very happy we could make it here. Exchanging thoughts about how the sports have transformed with the latest technology is always good. While I tried to explain these guys how Cricket is played, they in return taught me the finer details of Basketball."
The other Indian players had a field day in the new country as some of them went around shopping, while a few others chose to relax at the hotel. The Social Media handles of players and the BCCI were active with posts and pictures ever since they landed in the USA.
The southern coast of the USA was buzzing after the Indian cricket team arrived in the city of Fort Lauderdale to play the two twenty20 internationals against West Indies at the Central Broward Regional Park on August 27 and 28.
The Indian contingent reached the city on Tuesday morning. MS Dhoni, the skipper of the Indian ODI and T20 team reached Florida yesterday with Jasprit Bumrah.
In an attempt to popularize the sport in non-cricketing nations, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) reached out to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for a two match T20 International Series to be played in Florida, USA. As a result, competitive International Cricket will be played on American soil for the very first time.
(REOPENS DEL 15)
Having got a lucky break following Suresh Raina's fitness issues, the 31-year-old Jadhav is grabbing the opportunity with both hands.
An explosive batsman, Jadhav, who scored a 37-ball 41 in New Delhi, can give Dhoni a good option ahead of the next year's Champions Trophy by becoming the utility player that the skipper is looking for.
Then there is Hardik Pandya, who has impressed with both bat and bowl in his debut ODI series.
Making his debut in Dharamshala, Pandya bowled with pace and accuracy en route a match-winning 3/31 while in New Delhi he nearly pulled off an tough chase before being Dismissed for 36 from 32 balls.
But going into tomorrow's game, India's biggest concern would be the opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, who are yet to give the team an explosive start. In the last three ODIs their partnership has yielded 49, 21 and 13 runs respectively.
The Indian team management would be looking towards Rohit and Rahane to forge a partnership upfront to release extra pressure on the middle-order.
Rahane himself would be eager to make a big score and cement his place in the opening slot in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul.
On the other hand, it is a must-win match for New Zealand to keep their hopes alive in the series and for that to happen their batsmen need to fire in unison.
Barring Tom Latham and captain Kane Williamson, no other Kiwi batsmen has been among the runs.
Senior pros Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor are enduring a forgettable series with the bat and it's high time the duo fires for New Zealand to end the tour on a positive note.
The contribution from the lower-order has been a positive aspect for New Zealand in the series so far.
In the last ODI in Mohali, the Black Caps revived their innings with a lower-order surge between James Neesham (57) and Matt Henry (39 not out) in an 84-run record ninth wicket stand to take their total to 285.
In the remaining two games, Williamson would be hoping that his top-order lays the foundation for the lower-order to fire on flat Indian tracks, which are full of runs.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt and WK), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mandeep Singh.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (Capt), Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Correy Anderson, Luke Ronchi (WK), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, Anton Devcich,BJ Watling and Doug Bracewell.
Match starts 1.30pm IST.
Teams:
India (from): Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Chesteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra
England (from): Alastair Cook (captain), Haseeb Hamid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Duckett, Adil Rashid, Jake Ball, Gary Balance, Jos Buttler, Steve Finn, Chris Woakes, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Gareth Batty, Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari.
Match starts at 9:30 am.
