looking to salvage pride in the third Test beginning here on Wednesday, team India got down to business at the Wanderers on Sunday with a practice session that lasted just under four hours.
India had lost the first Test in Cape Town by 72 runs, and then were beaten in the second match at Centurion by 135 runs to surrender an unassailable lead.
The players enjoyed three days off after that hurtful loss, taking time to visit various safari and theme parks in and around Johannesburg.
On Sunday, they were back sweating in the nets, in a bid to end this series with their heads held high as the world No 1 Test side.
Noticeably, skipper Virat Kohli, who had a fiery press conference in aftermath of the Centurion loss, was in a jovial mood as he chatted around with his teammates and local net bowlers during practice.
After a customary warm-up game of football, the players got down to working on their skill sets.
Fielding coach R Sridhar was the first to put in a serious shift, with Parthiv Patel, Kl Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane working together as the slip cordon. later, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik joined in as the trio moved to batting nets.
On practice wickets, Rahul, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara took first strike against the net-bowling duo of Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini, who were confirmed arrived at the team hotel late on Saturday.
The nets were arranged as pacers, throw-downs and spinners respectively, and Pujara duly smacked the local spinner for what can only be described as two sixes.
rahane return hinted
India on Sunday hinted at a recall for Ajinkya Rahane in the third cricket Test against South Africa, days after his omission from the first two matches of the series raised eyebrows.
If Sunday's practice session at the Wanderers was any indication, there is a possibility of Rahane being drafted back into the playing XI for the inconsequential third Test.
Interestingly enough, at the nets, Rahane padded up and lined up along with Kohli and Hardik Pandya in what could be the suggestive middle-order in the upcoming Test.
Even after the routine batting and fielding sessions ended, Kohli and Rahane went back into the nets for an extended session. They were the last ones to walk out of a nearly four-hour-long training session. While Pandya opened up with some big hits as per his natural style of play, both Kohli and Rahane looked solid against pacers.