Media boycotts interaction, Bumrah undergoes dope test

Southampton (PTI): There is something about ICC World Cups where inevitably the relationship between Indian media and the national team becomes frosty.

It wasn't great during the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the start seemed to have been on a discordant note during this edition as well after the Indian media contingent decided to boycott an interaction session with net bowlers Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed.

With two days left for India's first game against South Africa, it was expected that at least coach Ravi Shastri or a senior player or support staff would address the media as it has been the norm in any bilateral series with skipper Virat Kohli coming on the pre-match day.

However to everyone's disbelief, Indian team's media manager informed the waiting journalists that since Chahar and Avesh are going back on Tuesday (Khaleel is staying back), it was felt that they should get an opportunity to interact with the media.

Livid with the decision, senior members of the fraternity protested vehemently to this outrageous idea and he was told that if the team wants to cancel the session, they are free to do so as it is unfair both for the media as well as the two youngsters, who don't have any authority to answer team related queries.

When asked why no player or support staff was made available, the media manager said that it was done since India haven't started its World Cup campaign yet.

The logic didn't seem convincing as it has never happened two days before a marquee event. It seemed more like a case where the Indian media was being told that you have to make do with whatever we make available for you. This seemed to be in complete contrast with the relationship that the jumbo Bangladeshi media share with their 'Tigers' or even the handful of Pakistani journalists with their players. Many were reminded of the 2015 World Cup, when there was a complete gag on media save pre and post-match days and skipper Dhoni would come for every post-match interaction instead of day's performer, who would be interviewed by the official BCCI website.

Bumrah called for random dope test: The Indian players may have had issues with NADA conducted dope tests but at the global event, there's no such problem.

On Monday, it was the turn of premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was picked up for the random test conducted by the WADA accredited agency. There is no specific system that is followed and it could be anybody who could be called for providing their urine sample.

Rohit takes a knock during throwdowns, carries on without fuss: Rohit Sharma in full flow is a treat to watch even during training sessions and the Indian bowlers were seen getting a taste of their vice-captain's touch ahead of the first game against South Africa.

Rohit looked in perfect control as he hooked Mohammed Shami behind square and Khaleel Ahmed was pulled in-front of square as they both tried to test him with short balls.

But the maximum punishment was reserved for Yuzvendra Chahal, who was dispatched into stands on more than one occasion. However there was fleeting moment of scare when he started taking throwdowns at the other net where a ball took off awkwardly and hit him on the gloves. For a couple of minutes, he seemed in some pain as the support staff rushed to check on him. It seemed fine as he continued batting without any discomfort after that.