The MI champ camp started off with light training sessions, basic fielding drills and net sessions. The champ camp will be at its full flow after all the international players are a part of it. They played a practice match by dividing the players in two teams.

The 1st team was captained by Parthiv Patel and was called Team A. The opposition team was captained by the veteran, Vinay Kumar and was called Team B. Parthiv won the toss and chose to bat first. Team A did not have a very fluent start, as Vinay Kumar picked up 2 wickets in his 1st spell itself. Wickets kept on tumbling until Krunal Pandya and Shreyas Gopal took the task in their hands. Their partnership was crafted with some amazing cover drives and lovely wrist work, sending the ball to all corners of the park. Both, Krunal and Shreyas were determined to get the scorecard moving, and their partnership was also appreciated by all the senior coaches. Shreyas Gopal scored 40 off 38 balls and Krunal Pandya scored 27 off just 18 balls. Team A, managed a decent total of 149 on a challenging track.

The 2nd Innings started with high expectations and everyone predicted an easy win for Team B. This match was turned on its head by the two pillars that dragged Team A to a total of 149. Shreyas Gopal and Krunal Pandya picked up 5 impressive wickets in a total of 8 overs between them. Gopal – 3/28 & Krunal – 2/19. The only saving grace from Team B was Ambati Rayudu’s knock of 54 from 35 balls. Rayudu looked in control from the very 1st ball he faced, which he hooked outside the ground for a six! Rayudu was picked up in the 14th over by Krunal Pandya, courtsey a breath-taking catch from Unmukt Chand. The Match ended with Team A winning by 15 runs.

The purpose of these practice matches is simple – to get the team playing as a unit and it pits their individual strengths against each other. It also gives the coaching staff an opportunity to look for any shortcomings that the players might have & improve upon them.