Virat Kohli is tuning up for the big Test at Wankhede

India Test captain Virat Kohli perfects his square drive at the Brabourne Stadium yesterday. Kohli will be available for the second Test against NZ in Mumbai. Pic/Atul Kamble

After pulling out of the T20I series against New Zealand and the first Test at Kanpur to manage his workload, Virat Kohli has got into preparatory mode for the second Test against the Kiwis to be played at the Wankhede Stadium from December 3.

India under Kohli lost the inaugural World Test Championship final to New Zealand in June. Kohli, in his first outing after stepping down as India's T20 captain, hit the Brabourne Stadium turf early on Tuesday morning. He faced pace bowlers for the first half an hour before going to the adjacent net to take on the spinners for the next 30 to 40 minutes.

Kohli practised under the watchful eyes of former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar, who was recently appointed head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bangar executed throwdowns between gaps.

It is learnt that Kohli turned to sharpen his slip fielding once he was done batting. It was an intense session of catching drills. Kohli, along with Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane form India's slip cordon in Test matches.

Meanwhile, Wankhede Stadium will conduct a Test match after five years. The iconic venue hosted England in December 2016, when India won the fourth Test of the series by an innings and 36 runs.

Captain Kohli returns to the same venue where he smashed a majestic 235 to take India to 631 in the first innings. Kohli has been looking for a three-figure score since his century against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in November 2019.

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