Bharath in Dubai
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the two stalwarts of Indian cricket, looked relaxed and stood in a corner after their respective net sessions. Kohli also took a bit of time out to sign some autographs just before the start of India’s training workshop. The air of calmness surrounding their demeanour extended to the rest of their teammates. It was on expected lines as India have won seven ODIs in a row, including four in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
As it is aptly said: ‘Winning dressing room is a happy dressing room.’ The think-tank will hope that the camaraderie on display in the practice session will translate into another victory as India aim to add one more Champions Trophy to the cabinet.
So, how did the Indian players go about fine-tuning their skills ahead of the title bout versus New Zealand? KL Rahul, the wicketkeeper-bat, was the first one to arrive at the ICC Academy, around 40 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. Once again Rahul was intent on employing reverse sweeps and reverse hits. Probably he wants to bring that shot out in a match while facing an off-spinner.
Meanwhile, Kohli was focused on steers and dabs, alongside getting a stride out while facing a left-arm side-arm thrower from round the wicket. Afterwards, he was up against Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel. He did smash the former for a couple of shots down the ground but was beaten on the outside edge by Axar. A caveat has to be added here that Varun doesn’t showcase his tricks in practice. Even though he was seen perfecting his googly action.
On the other hand, it was quite evident that Kohli’s aim was to negate the threat of New Zealand’s spinners, especially one certain Mitchell Santner. The thought process was clear—pick the length early, play late. Rohit, his skipper, mostly looked to have a feel of the bat on ball. Shubman Gill was perhaps trying to perfect his back-and-across trigger, with most of the deliveries from the seamers coming into him. His vision could be to nullify Matt Henry’s wobble seamer.
Among the bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Morne Morkel were having a long chat. The intense discussion seemed to be around the seamer’s back foot contact and how he zips through the crease. In simple words, maintaining momentum through the chain sequence.
Outside of the practice session, all the noise seems to be about India having an unfair advantage because they are playing each one of their games at one venue. Sitanshu Kotak, the batting coach, said this on the sidelines of the practice session: “I don’t understand what advantage we get from this (pitch). People feel that India gained an advantage after we won the matches. I don’t know what to say about that. We just played according to the draw,” he said. “It is not as if, after coming here, something was changed to give us an advantage,” he added.
Hopefully, come Sunday, all the chatter would be around Henry’s wobble, Santner’s subtleties, Kohli’s chasing prowess or Rohit’s sublime timing. Although that is akin to envisioning a utopian land where everything seems perfect.