A few Indian cricket team members, who are in Madhya Pradesh for the third and final ODI against New Zealand, on Monday morning visited Ujjain's famed Mahakaleswar temple and offered prayers. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar reached Mahakal temple with the staff of the Indian cricket team early Monday morning. Star batter of India Suryakumar Yadav said that they prayed to Mahakal for the speedy recovery of their teammate Rishabh Pant.
Players pray for Rishabh’s recovery
Pant was involved in a car crash on December 30 and suffered a number of serious injuries, however, he is making good progress with his recovery.
"We prayed for the speedy recovery of Rishabh Pant. His comeback is very important to us. We have already won the series against New Zealand, looking forward to the final match against them," Suryakumar Yadav told ANI.
The players and the staff also participated in the 'Bhasma Aarti' of Lord Shiva that was performed in the early morning hours at the temple. The players wore traditional attire - dhoti and angavastram - while posing with the staff of the Indian cricket team.
Team India ready for third ODI
Team India will play the third and final match of the ODI series against New Zealand on Tuesday in Indore at the Holkar Stadium.
India secured a comprehensive eight-wicket win against New Zealand in the second ODI to secure their seventh consecutive ODI series at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on Saturday.
India to rest players in search of whitewash?
The Men in Blue will be in search of their second ODI series whitewash of 2023 as they host New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium on Tuesday (January 24). India already beat Sri Lanka in the ODI series this month and will look for the same against the Kiwis. The assignment will be followed by the T20I series against the same opposition before India take guard against Australia in the four-match Test series, starting in Nagpur on February 9.