Nagpur: After suffering a humiliating defeat in Nagpur against South Africa, the Indian team had an optional training session on Wednesday, which was supposed to be the fifth day of the first test, with some senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh skipping the practice session.

Other members of the team, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, practiced at the VCA stadium in Jamtha on what was the scheduled fifth day of the first Test that the hosts lost by an innings and six runs on the fourth day.

Apart from Dhoni, the others who took part in the net session were VVS Laxman, who missed the opener due to a finger injury, S Badrinath, M Vijay, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma.

There was another scare for the Indians when Laxman got hurt by a ball from left arm spinner Ojha… but he came back to bat after taking a short break.

Tendulkar and Zaheer, meanwhile, have already left for Mumbai en route to Kolkata for the second test to be played from February 14-18 at the Eden Gardens. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir went to Delhi and were not available for practice, Vidarbha Cricket Association sources said.

Off spinner Harbhajan Singh, however, who has been facing a lot of criticism for his performance in the first test, did not practice with the other members though he is still in the city.

The net session was supervised by coach Gary Kirsten and bowling coach Eric Simmons.

Tagged with: Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Nagpur, Sachin Tendulkar, South Africa, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan

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