World Cup 2019: Kedar hits the nets but no word on availability against South Africa

Having made significant recovery from his shoulder injury, Kedar Jadhav’s active participation in successive net sessions augurs well for the Indian team even though he remains a doubtful starter for the World Cup opener against South Africa.

Kedar Jadhav during a training session in Southampton.

Having made significant recovery from his shoulder injury, Kedar Jadhav’s active participation in successive net sessions augurs well for the Indian team even though he remains a doubtful starter for the World Cup opener against South Africa.

The Indian team management will certainly feel relieved after the 33-year-old had two full-fledged net sessions since India’s arrival at this port city.

Jadhav has batted without any apparent discomfort during the sessions, which was a fair enough indication that he is nearing full fitness. He has also started bowling in the nets, something he was not doing during the IPL due to his dodgy hamstring.

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He had hurt his left shoulder during the last IPL round robin league game for Chennai Super Kings against Kings XI Punjab and did not play the final phase of the tournament.

He was also forced to skip the two World Cup warm-up games against New Zealand and Bangladesh as he had not attained full fitness by then. After a couple of net sessions with a team bonding activity in between, the Indian team were given a day off on Sunday.

However, most of the players, including skipper Virat Kohli, Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Vijay Shankar hit the gym.