Sign In
By signing in or creating an account, you agree with Associated Broadcasting Company's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
By signing in or creating an account, you agree with Associated Broadcasting Company's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
New Delhi: India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav was among five national team players who enjoyed a jungle safari in the Pench Tiger Reserve before their five-game T20I series opener against New Zealand in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Yadav was accompanied by wicketkeepers Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, batter Rinku Singh and spinner Ravi Bishnoi on the private visit to the reserve that stretches across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The players reached Seoni, MP, on Saturday night and stayed at a resort, Pench Tiger Reserve Field Director J Deva Prasad told PTI.
After undertaking the jungle safari on Monday morning, where they spotted leopards and other wildlife creatures but not a tiger, the cricketers left for Nagpur at around noon.
While going around the reserve in an open jeep, the players posed for photographs with fans.
On return to Nagpur, Yaddav was gifted an annual calendar with photographs depicting tigers, leopards, and other wildlife by Pench wildlife photographer Rituraj Rahi Jaiswal.
Photos and videos of their jungle safari were shared on various social media platforms by the players who visited Pench.
It was Yadav’s second visit to the Pench Tiger Reserve, having been there on February 15, 2025, an official told PTI.
In 2023, Sachin Tendulkar had visited the reserve, home to tigers, chital, leopards, and sloth bears, with his family.
India have lost the Test and ODI series to New Zealand and with the T20 World Cup beginning on February 7, all eyes are on the five-match T20I series that begins in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, after defeats in Test and ODI series’ under his captaincy, Shubman Gill has decided to play in Ranji Trophy for Punjab against Saurashtra, which starts on in Rajkot on Thursday.
Gill is not part of India’s T20 World Cup squad and has struggled to score big in the ODI and Test series’.
