Indians in Good Spirits at Sydney Practice Session

Sydney, March 23 (IANS) Ahead of their high-voltage World Cup semi-final against Australia here on Thursday, the Indian cricket team looked in good spirits with the players looking calm and composed as they underwent a training session on Monday.

The defending champions went through a light-hearted practice session - a few warm-up drills to flex their muscles, a nice casual round of football and then a nets session, bcci.tv reported Monday.

All batsmen had a long stay at the nets with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher keeping a close tab.

Opener Rohit Sharma, coming off a maiden World Cup ton against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals, looked in sublime touch, middling the ball well much to the appreciation of his teammates.

Right beside him was opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, who looked confident and made a conscious effort to leave certain deliveries.

No.3 batsman Virat Kohli too had a long stint at the nets and had his entire focus on each ball that he faced.

Some of the shots that he hit made a sweet sound off the bat and India would be hoping their star batsman gets a big one against the four-time world champions on Thursday.

Middle-order batter Suresh Raina practiced playing short deliveries. Later, India captain Dhoni bowled several bouncers with the tennis ball to Raina. The left-hand batsman attempted several pull shots of the short deliveries.

The Indian bowlers bent their backs and racked up good speeds against their fellow batsmen.

Pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma sent a few whizzing past the batsmen's chin while some of them were dealt with ease and severity.

Both teams are gearing up for the crucial match and preparations look well and truly on track with just a couple of days left for the marquee clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground.