The Men in Blue, clad in their orange training jerseys, hit the ground running here on Thursday. As twilight merged into the night at the Ekana Stadium, frogs got busy croaking and a swarm of insects flew around the floodlights. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma’s men limbered up with a spot of fielding drills.
Catches, both high and close-in, were practised and coach Rahul Dravid attempted to clear the ropes while keeping the fielders in the deep, interested. Almost the full squad, with the exception of Mohammed Shami and Ishan Kishan, were present for the optional nets at the venue, which will host Sunday’s World Cup game against a beleaguered England.
The sprawling sports campus with an indoor stadium and tennis courts besides the cricket ground, was milling with activity. Indian players hitched a ride in cabs for the short drive to the nearby B ground and it was time for batting and bowling stints. Interestingly, the tail had a long hit with players ranging from Jasprit Bumrah to Kuldeep Yadav testing their willows. Bumrah attempted some sweeps and grinned while Kuldeep cheekily requested a photographer to click his batting pictures.
At the other end of the spectrum, Virat Kohli bowled a bit, especially to Rohit. All the batters had a long stint in the three nets split into pace, spin and throw-downs. Ravindra Jadeja flexed some muscle, attempting sixes and the straight-drilled four. From Bumrah to R. Ashwin, all the bowlers turned their arm over.
It was evident that the think-tank was trying to bolster its batting and bowling flanks especially after Hardik Pandya’s left-ankle injury meant that the squad’s all-round balance had suffered a rough patch. Rohit also had a long conversation with Mohammed Siraj. The fine-tuning of skill-sets will resume on Friday evening as India seeks to extend its unblemished record so far in this World Cup.
