Nagpur: While Abhimanyu Mithun was looking to certify his surprise-elevation with a strong show against the South African batsmen at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) ground in Civil Lines, the rest of the 15-member Indian Test squad arrived for their first practice session since returning from Bangladesh at the VCA Stadium in Jaamtha, some 20 kms away.

The Indians had landed at Nagpur in batches earlier on Wednesday morning.

Though it has been less than a week since they retained their No. 1 Test ranking by overcoming Bangladesh 2-0 in the away series, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co were involved in a thorough and strenuous practice session, which began with their customary football encounter.

This was followed by a long work-out session under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff, which included Gary Kirsten, Paddy Upton and bowling coach Eric Simons.

With the first Test of the series billed as the battle for the Test crown pitting the two top ranked teams in the world just three days away, the Indian batsmen, including Subramanian Badrinath, who is all set to make his debut, then spent the rest of the session getting stuck in at the nets.

The Indians have happy memories of the new VCA Stadium having won the only previous Test at the venue, when they beat Australia in 2008 to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.