England capitalised on its three-day stay in the city prior to its departure to Rajkot for the first Test.
Alastair Cook’s men got down to serious practice at the Brabourne Stadium with the support staff that included coach Trevor Bayliss, assistant coach Paul Fabrice, batting coach Mark Ramprakash, fast bowling coach Ottis Gibson and spin coach Saqlain Mushtaq.
For the past two days the visitors played football and practised hard in the nets. Some players such as Jos Buttler (of Mumbai Indians) Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and the support staff took time off to unwind themselves at a social gathering at the Cooch Behar Room on Thursday.
Eight hours of net session at a lovely ground in the city would have soothed the nerves of England players.
After the second four-hour training session the England captain addressed his first press conference of the tour outside the Card Room of the Cricket Club of India and the journalists asked about the likely return to action of England’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, Jimmy Anderson.
Late on Friday the seamer gave the cheerful news from England that he was likely to take the flight to Rajkot ahead of the first Test after having recovered from a shoulder injury.
“It’s really good news. He’s probably a week ahead of where we thought he was going to be. He’s ready to come out, so it’s about trying to get him out to Rajkot as quick as we can,” the England captain said.
“I heard he may be on the same flight as Straussy (Andrew Strauss) on Tuesday, hopefully, but that’s just hearsay. He’s worked incredibly hard to get back. Speaking to the guys at Loughborough, and speaking to him, there’s no more he can do there, he’s got the all clear. It’s about him acclimatising and getting some time in the nets. It’s great that he’s put in the effort, rather than take the easy option and come back in July, he wants to make a difference in this series,” said Cook.
Anderson who has taken 22 wickets in seven Tests in India over 11 years will not figure in the England attack at Rajkot. But he may be available at Visakhapatnam. Cook said: “We will not know until we see him, but just chatting to him yesterday and a couple of days before, the second Test is a possibility. The last game (at Mirpur) might have been the first match I’ve captained without Stuart or Jimmy.”
Cook also spoke about what his team had achieved in the last two days at the CCI. “We started with spin, each batsman facing 20-30 balls. We have spoken about it and the guys experienced what can happen. You don’t normally get that (net bowlers most of whom were spinners) as an England side. It was just a couple of days of practice and a couple of different things to experiment.
“These are good players. One bad session or one tough day does not make them bad players. Every time this side has been questioned, they have found a way out. I expect the same here.’’
