India vs SA 2022: Coach Rahul Dravid gives pep talk to Team India in first practice after IPL 2022, WATCH

Head coach Rahul Dravid (left) chats with Avesh Khan at a training session at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. (Source: Twitter)

Team India finally assembled at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday (June 6) as they began preparations for the upcoming five-match T20 series against South Africa beginning on Thursday (June 9). This was the first training session under head coach Rahul Dravid after the IPL 2022 came to an end last month.

India team will be led by KL Rahul in this series with regular captain Rohit Sharma rested along with the likes of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah to prepare for the series against England next month. This is beginning of a hectic next few months for Team India in the build-up to the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia in October-November this year.

Skipper KL Rahul’s side were spotted in a huddle with coach Rahul Dravid addressing the team and giving a pep talk. The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the clip on their Twitter account. “Back in Blue - Prep mode ON. Team India begin training in Delhi ahead of the 1st T20I against South Africa,” BCCI captioned the post.

Watch head coach Rahul Dravid's pep talk for Team India here...

Back in Blue - Prep mode #TeamIndia begin training in Delhi ahead of the 1st T20I against South Africa.@Paytm #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/kOr8jsGJwL — BCCI (@BCCI) June 6, 2022

The first T20I of the series will take place on Thursday (June 9) in Delhi. After which, the remaining matches will be played at Cuttack, Vizag, Rajkot, and Bengaluru respectively. The fifth and final match of the series will take place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 19 after which the team will travel to Ireland and England.

After some fitness drills, the team shifted to the adjoining west stand nets for net sessions. Head coach Rahul Dravid was immersed in a long conversation with pacer Avesh Khan while bowling coach Paras Mhambrey was seen giving suggestions to Venkatesh Iyer and Simarjeet Singh.

Vice-captain Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Dinesh Karthik were the next batters to have a go against the bowlers. Shreyas began by batting against throw-downs while Pant faced Avesh and Umran Malik alternatively and Karthik was up against Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi.