Ajinkya Rahane, who led Team India to a memorable Test series in Australia last month in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a video of himself having a net session in Chennai ahead of the first Test against England. In the 23-second video, Rahane was seen middling the ball off spinners as he geared up for the upcoming four-match Test series. On Monday, Team India completed their mandatory quarantine and cleared COVID-19 tests as they resumed training. “Back to training,” Rahane captioned the video. 

Back to training pic.twitter.com/kyeWLnKBlX

— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) February 3, 2021

With Kohli returning to the squad, Rahane will play the role of his deputy in the upcoming home Test series, starting February 5. 

In his last Test series, Rahane scored 268 runs at an average of 38.29 and also hit a match-winning hundred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

MA Chidambaram Stadium will host the first two matches while the remaining games are scheduled to be played at Ahmedabad’s Motera stadium, including the day-night Test. 

The Test series opener will be played behind closed doors, however, fans will be allowed for the second match, beginning February 13. 

“We have spoken to the BCCI, we will get official approval for 50 per cent fans by today evening,” Ramasaamy had said on Monday. 

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The England team also completed their quarantine on Monday and all players returned negative results. 

The Test series will be followed by a five-match Twenty20 International series and the tour will conclude with a three-match One-day International series.