Virat Kohli hits the nets in Ranchi ahead of ODI series-opener vs South Africa

New Delhi: Star Indian batter Virat Kohli was spotted polishing his batting skills in Ranchi stadium ahead of the ODI series-opener against South Africa on Sunday. Social media, on Friday, was flooded with pictures and videos of the star Indian player training on the field which included some fitness drills as well apart from batting.

Kohli, who lives in London with his family, arrived in Mumbai earlier this week on Tuesday and was spotted at the Ranchi airport a day later on Wednesday. On Thursday evening, Kohli garnered all the attention when he was spotted at former cricketer MS Dhoni's residence for dinner. Along with Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Ruturaj Gaikwad were also invited to the former's captain's residence for dinner.

What caught the eyeballs of the fans and media was Dhoni dropping off Kohli in his personal car after the dinner got over. Meanwhile along with Kohli, former India skipper Rohit Sharma has also reached Ranchi as the due were spotted training together in the nets on Thursday. Both the senior players were seen hitting some nice shots during their practice session.

Kohli, along with Rohit, played a pivotal role in India's victory over Australia in the third and final ODI of the series in Sydney last month. Though the visitors lost the series 1-2 but the veteran duo made statement performances with the bat in the final game.

Against South Africa, India suffered a huge setback after they lost the 2-match Test series 0-2 succumbing to their lowest point in the longest format of the game. The fairly young squad didn't have the control over the game as they slipped in the second match big time losing it by a 408-run margin.

Indian team management would be wishing for the two senior players to succeed and deliver in the three ODI matches which would be followed by a 5-match T20I series.